Bournemouth preview: Days like this …

Morning all.

Arsenal are in Premier League action this evening, facing Bournemouth away from home, and with the opportunity to extend our lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Mikel Arteta was vague on Declan Rice’s availability, saying the swelling hadn’t gone down on his knee yet, and with Liverpool on the horizon next week, it seems unlikely to me that we’ll take any risk with him today. I’ve seen it reported that he has travelled with the squad, but he was with the squad for the Villa game too. If it were me, I’d exercise maximum caution when it comes to Rice’s involvement. I don’t mean to say we have bigger fish to fry than Bournemouth, that’s not it at all, but we have half a season still to play, and we need him for that more than we need him for today.

With little possibility to change much at the back, I do wonder if, perhaps, the configuration of the midfield might be influenced by who starts up front. After a goal against Villa on Tuesday, Gabriel Jesus must be pushing his way towards the front of the queue up front, and against a team who possess a serious long throw (more on that anon), we lose a bit of height and physical presence if Viktor Gyokeres doesn’t start. That probably means that, despite the idea of starting Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze being a tempting one, Mikel Merino will probably get the nod alongside the captain, with Martin Zubimendi behind them.

Typically, we ask our centre-forward to defend the near post from corners and set-pieces, which makes sense when it’s a big lad like Gyokeres or Kai Havertz (or even Merino when he plays there), but it’s not quite within the wheelhouse of Jesus. Maybe that even plays into the manager’s decision about the striker today. Against a side like Bournemouth, who press high and do leave space if you can bypass that, you could make a reasonable case this one might suit Gyokeres, but in terms of who looks most likely to score of late, the Brazilian edges that one for me.

It looks like Antoine Semenyo will be available for the home side today, which I guess makes sense for both Bournemouth and Man City. I suspect if they were playing different opposition today, his imminent move to the Etihad would see him sit this one out, but it suits City for Bournemouth’s best player to face a team they’re scrapping for the title with. Not to mention, he is the guy with the long throw that’s so very effective – ask Chelsea after the two goals they conceded at Stamford Bridge the other day.

They are in indifferent form of late, without a win in 10, but at home they’re a really tricky side and there’s a big difference between their form at the Vitality and on their travels. As Lewis pointed out in our preview podcast, they concede way fewer shots at home than away, and the way they press means their opposition’s possession stats are generally lower against them than any other side in the league apart from Liverpool. So, this could be a game where technical quality could really make a difference, which also feeds into my feeling about Jesus up front (and Eze), but let’s see.

So, this is going to be a tougher one than people might expect looking at the form table. Mikel Arteta says:

We know how tough it’s going to be tomorrow, and everybody is going have to be at it. huge respect for them. I know Andoni really well and what he’s doing, I think it’s incredible. I’m watching all the games that they played this season and against the top sides, how difficult they made it and how they haven’t got results against them as well is difficult to understand.

Three points today would put us 7 clear of Man City before they face managerless Chelsea tomorrow afternoon. These are the moments in the title race where you can put pressure on your rivals, or perhaps give them a little encouragement going into their next game. I’m sure that’s something the manager and the players are well aware of, and if this is to be the year when we finally finish top, days like today feel very important. Let’s hope we can do the business.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now. We have a preview podcast over on Patreon if you need something to listen to, and as ever we’ll have live blog coverage and all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News later.

Come on Arsenal!