It has been a really tough few weeks to be an Arsenal fan, with the club appearing to be sleepwalking into oblivion. Back to back defeats to Stoke City and Liverpool in the league coupled with a fairly disastrous transfer window and Arsene Wenger’s bizarre tactical decisions have left Arsenal fans patience at breaking point. I’m sure Wenger and his Arsenal side will be happy to get back on the pitch after the international break and they will take on a Bournemouth side who have problems of their own.
Eddie Howe’s side have lost all three of their games this season, having scored just one goal in the process. Something has to give at The Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon and this is a massive game for both sides.
- When: 3:00PM, Saturday, September 9th, 2017
- Where: The Emirates Stadium, London, England
Arsenal
Arsenal were embarrassing in their last game against Liverpool, losing 4-0 to Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield. Since then, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has left the club to join Liverpool and Alexis Sanchez appeared set to leave for Manchester City on deadline day, before Arsenal eventually blocked the transfer. It remains to be seen what Sanchez’s mental state will be and whether he will actually want to play for Arsene Wenger any more. Whatever happens, Arsenal need a huge improvement this weekend and surely summer signing Alexandre Lacazette will return to the starting line up after finding himself on the bench for the Liverpool game for some bizarre reason. Wenger may move away from the 3-4-3 formation which has simply not worked so far this season and revert to a more traditional 4-3-3 setup.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth were extremely unfortunate to lose their last game against Manchester City as Raheem Sterling scored a last gasp goal to give the Citizens a 2-1 victory. Charlie Daniels scored Bournemouth’s first goal of the season with a wonder strike to give Bournemouth the lead in the game and Eddie Howe will be hoping to see more of the same fight this weekend. Jermain Defoe has struggled so far this season since his move from Sunderland, but Howe will probably keep faith with the England international this weekend in the hope of exposing Arsenal’s defensive weaknesses.
Talking Points
- Arsenal have conceded eight goals in their first three games, can they keep their first clean sheet of the season against a Bournemouth side who have scored just once this season?
- Will Alexis Sanchez start following his transfer saga? The Chilean star is reportedly devastated that his transfer to Manchester City fell through.
- Both of these two managers already find themselves under pressure at this early stage of the season; who will come out on top on Saturday?
Prediction
I think this is the perfect fixture for Arsenal to get back to winning ways; Bournemouth have struggled so far this season and Eddie Howe’s side will not give Arsenal too many problems in terms of pace or physicality. I’m expecting Arsenal to pick up a fairly comfortable victory in this one and they simply must win considering they face Chelsea the following weekend.
Betting Tips (Ladbrokes)
Arsenal start this one as big favourites at odds of 4/11, whilst an away win for Bournemouth is 13/2 and the draw is 4/1. I think Arsenal will pick up a comfortable win here and the odds of Arsenal & BTTS (NO) at 7/4 look tempting here. My pick for this game is a Half Time/Full Time bet of Arsenal – Arsenal at 21/20 though. I think Arsenal will breeze this one and those odds of just over evens look good value to me.
HT/FT – Arsenal/Arsenal – 21/20 (Ladbrokes)