7 Weeks in the Premier League is really starting to hot up. Arsenal remain in a strong position, undefeated in all competitions. Now for a clash on the south coast, against on opposition that on paper it should make for plain sailing.
The Art of Analysis Previews and Predictions is here.
The lineup:
Players rested, players injured and simply put some players just not performing to the level we expect of them. Mikel has a selection headache on his hands and for once I’m not talking about the GK position. That seems to be firmly settled as Raya being GK1 certainly for the time being anyway.
Let’s start with the strike force. Jesus up front, he is by far our best out and out striker and from the performance in the NLD it seems like he doesn’t have the knack for playing on the wing anymore. He is CF or nothing at this rate. Saka RW, well I am assuming he is fit and well. I’d rather have Fabio Vieira on the right and keep Saka well and truly rested for Man City. But I’m not manager and I’m confident that Mikel Arteta knows better than me.
As for the left, we are hearing positively about Trossard. But I don’t think he will be ready. Given the performance from Reiss at LW on Wednesday night. I think he has certainly done enough to deserve a start in the prem. More importantly a starting role whilst we have a number of injuries all across the left flank.
The other key question is in midfield and with Declan Rice. Is he fit. Does he just need more rest in general. In my opinion no matter the outcome of Rice fitness test. It would make sense to give him more time to recover for the critical game against Man City. Instead I would be using Jorginho once more. He rose to the occasion on Wednesday night and really did himself justice after the costly error in the NLD. He deservedly won himself a MOTM award for his performance and I would suggest this more than earns him a start again given the injury concerns we have.
The backline speaks for himself, we’ve got some absolute monsters in the likes of Gabriel and Saliba in the middle, and I have faith in Raya his ability on the ball is influential against sides like Bournemouth who will sit in an incredibly low deep block. White and Zincehko on either flank to help progress the play in quick bursts of pace and attack should help to stretch a compact Bournemouth side.
This XI, is what I believe to be a winning formula. All while allowing some rest for key players.
The opposition and the history:
Arsenal have scored against Bournemouth in all of their last 12 matches. With Bournemouth’s 2-1 home win against Arsenal in January 2018 is their only victory in 12 Premier League meetings (D2, L9). Bournemouth sit 17th in the Premier League with just 3 points. Meanwhile Arsenal are undefeated (W4, D2) and with 14th points are 5th separated by goal difference with Tottenham.
Keys to winning:
We know what to expect from this Bournemouth side. A deep low block, with a lone striker attempting to hold onto long balls over the top and allow link up with speedy wingers to counterattack arsenal. There it is plain and simple. On paper its so obvious, but in reality where we have been caught out in the league and conceded is on these instances where an individual error has allowed the opposition to capitalise and score.
The key to winning is really not to make those individual errors again. But more importantly not to put ourself in that position of vulnerability.
If we simply attack with more vigour and more aggressive directness and simply bury the game in the first half we would have nothing to worry about. However this simply has not been the case. Our attack whilst getting goals have not been clinical enough. It was only the PSV game did I think wow look how good we can be. Look how many we can score.
Against opposition that we should view as lessor. Arsenal need to do more than just a 1-0 win. We need some goals! We need a clinical Jesus. We need impactful darting runs from Saka with an outside the box shot to curl into the top corner. I want another Martin Ødegaard screamer to go fire into the back of the net.
Simply put they need to be shooting more. I hope this is something the boys and Mikel have been working on in the training ground.
Conclusion:
Arsenal face a tough test against Bournemouth, who are fast on the counterattack. The Gunners must be cautious in the first half and try to score early to kill the game off. However, with heavy rotation, a tired squad, a media that will scrutinise every inch of the game this will not be easy.
My prediction:
POTM: Emile Smith-Rowe
Scoreline: Bournemouth 0 – Arsenal 3
Suggested Bet: Jesus Any Time Goal Scorer
Written By Reekesh Somaroo