It is another evening of football in game week 28 and Arsenal take on Bournemouth at the Emirates. The Gunners seem to be back on track for Champions League qualification, having dispatched Southampton over the weekend to climb 4th on the table.
They currently sit a point ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United and 3 points clear off Sarri’s Chelsea in 6th, who have a game in hand due to their cup duties.
Needless to say that this is another must win game for the Gunners, especially as Spurs travel to Stamford bridge tonight and Manchester United take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in London.
Points will be dropped in the top 6 and it is very important that the Gunners take maximum points from today’s encounter vs Bournemouth, in order to further boost their chances of staying in the top 4 come May.
So without much further ado, let’s get right down to the business of this piece. Unlike their opponents, the Cherries have some significant injuries. Callum Wilson, David Brookes, Simon Francis and Junior Stanislas are notable absentees from today’s squad for Bournemouth.
Of the above mentioned, only Junior Stanislas is the only one likely to come on at some point for Bournemouth, if he passes a late fitness test for the game.
The Gunners on the other hand are boosted by the return of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Iwobi from injuries. Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin remain out for the rest of the season.
Possible Starting XI for the Gunners vs Bournemouth,
Bernd Leno GK, Litchstenier RB, Mustafi LCB, Sokratis Papasthadopolus CB, Sead Kolasinac LB, Granit Xhaka CM, Lucas Torreira DM, Mesut Özil CAM, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang LF, Alexandre Lacazette CF, Henrikh Mkhitaryan RW.
Formation: 4-2-1-3 hybrid
Possible Starting XI for the Cherries
Boruc; Clyne, Mepham, Ake, Smith; Ibe, Lerma, Gosling, Fraser; King, Solanke
Formation: 4-5-1
As always, the Boss Unai Emery has left nothing unturned in his prematch press conference . Here are quotes from it…
On his thinking towards the Bournemouth encounter tonight…
“Good afternoon. Performance. I want a performance in each match and our focus is tomorrow. Some players after playing Sunday with a very big intensity and energy, maybe can give us the same intensity and the same energy and I am going to find some players with this energy, this fresh intensity and also quality.
But above all is to do the balance between all the individual qualities and capacities for finding the best performance tomorrow.”
On Iwobi…
“I am very happy and I think he is working a lot for improving and he has energy, he has quality, he has things to improve. But he can do that. For us, we have to be demanding with him and he himself being demanding to improve the things that he can get better at in his qualities.
When he’s getting into the attacking third, into the box, to be calm to decide the last action with assist and scoring more. But he is giving us a lot of attacking moments and opening space for other players when they are arriving to the ball.”
Feel free to catch up on all the gist from the press conference here.
Prediction for Arsenal vs Bournemouth
Considering how formidable the Gunners have been at home, this is an easy one to call… 3-0 to the hosts.
Competition : Premier League Week 28
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Time: 20:45 WAT
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
