ARSENAL return to the big screens for some Saturday evening action with Premier League new boys Bournemouth standing in their way.
The Gunners left fans oozing excitement once again having defeated Leicester 4-2 at the Emirates on the weekend.
- Start time: 3pm BST
- TV/Live stream: Sky Sports Premier League
- Bournemouth XI: Travers, Kelly, Mepham, Lerma, Smith, Tavernier, Moore, Pearson, Senesi, Billing, Zemura
- Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Xhaka, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jesus
Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
Saka the centurion
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is set to become the second-youngest player to reach 100 Premier League appearances for the club.
That major milestone puts Saka behind Gunners hero Cesc Fabregas.
All in all, the winger counts a total of 23 goals and 29 assists in 133 matches across all competitions.
The England international has already sealed a place in Mikel Arteta’s starting-line-up and is set to be offered a new contract
Credit: GETTY Scoring Moore goals
Bournemouth star Kieffer Moore has scored in each of his last three home league games.
Moore scored the Cherries’ second against Aston Villa in the team’s first Premier League match since their return from the Championship.
The striker has proven to be a crucial player under manager Scott Parker ever since his arrival from Cardiff in January.
The Wales international has already amassed five goals in six matches across all competitions
Credit: GETTY Arsenal formation
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is fielding the same team as last week in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Aaron Ramsdale starts in goal with Ben White at right-back and Oleksandr Zinchenko on the other side, while Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba team up at centre-back.
Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka team up in midfield with captain Martin Odegaard at No 10.
Bukayo Saka covers the right flank with Gabriel Martinelli on the other side, while Gabriel Jesus leads the attack
Bournemouth formation
Bournemouth boss Scott Parker appears to have opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation against Arsenal.
Mark Travers starts in goal with Chris Mepham, Marcos Senesi and captain Lloyd Kelly in defence.
Adam Smith plays at right wing-back with Jordan Zemura on the other side, while Jefferson Lerma and Phillip Billing team up in midfield.
Marcus Tavernier and Ben Pearson play behind Kieffer Moore, who leads the attack
Bournemouth subs
4 Cook, 10 Christie, 11 Marcondes, 13 Neto, 17 Stacey, 18 Lowe, 20 Dembele, 23 Hill, 32 Anthony
Arsenal subs
30 Turner, 3 Tierney, 10 Smith Rowe, 14 Nketiah, 16 Holding, 18 Tomiyasu, 21 Vieira, 23 Sambi Lokonga, 25 Elneny
Bournemouth XI
1 Travers, 5 Kelly, 6 Mepham, 8 Lerma, 15 Smith, 16 Tavernier, 21 Moore, 22 Pearson, 25 Senesi, 29 Billing, 33 Zemura
Arsenal XI
1 Ramsdale, 4 White, 5 Partey, 6 Gabriel, 7 Saka, 8 Odegaard, 9 Jesus, 11 Martinelli, 12 Saliba, 34 Xhaka, 35 Zinchenko
The team sheets are in!!!
Arsenal stats
As said earlier, Arsenal have won both of their first two Premier League matches against Crystal Palace and Leicester with Mikel Arteta’s men scoring six goals and conceding twice.
The Gunners are looking to start a season with three straight Prem wins for the first time in 18 years.
And the North Londoners could keep a clean sheet in their opening two away league games for the first time since 1993.
Arsenal haven’t drawn any of their last 19 Premier League fixtures, which is the longest such run in the division
Credit: GETTY Bournemouth stats
Bournemouth won their first Premier League match since their return from the Championship as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Dean Court before losing 4-0 to Manchester City away.
The Cherries are unbeaten in their past 11 home league matches and won seven times along the way.
The hosts’ most recent home defeat was a 1-0 loss by Boreham Wood in the fourth round of the FA Cup in February.
But Scott Parker’s men have amassed a mere 10 shots in their opening two Premier League games, which is the fewest in the division
Credit: GETTY Head to head
Bournemouth and Arsenal’s first ever encounter took place way back in 1987 during a third-round match in the League Cup that saw the latter winning 3-0 at home.
Since then the two sides have faced off a total of 12 times with the Gunners winning a vast majority of nine matches, compared to the Cherries’ one and only victory.
And that took place in 2018 as they won 2-1 at Dean when Court Callum Wilson and Jordon Ibe cancelled out Hector Bellerin’s opener.
But since then the North Londoners have won four of their five matches across all competitions
Credit: GETTY Good afternoon from Bournemouth
Welcome to SunSport’s live blog coverage of the Premier League clash between Bournemouth and Arsenal at Dean Court.
The Gunners are off to a flying start as they won both of their first two Prem fixtures against Crystal Palace and Leicester.
The North Londoners will be looking to extend their winning streak today and manager Mikel Arteta has no fresh injury concerns.
In fact, summer signing Fabio Vieira has made the squad and could finally make his debut after missing all of pre-season due to a foot injury.
Reiss Nelson is Arsenal’s sole absentee as he is still nursing a quad injury but other than that Arteta has a clean bill of health.
The Spanish tactician will of course have star signing Gabriel Jesus leading his attack after a stunning performance last week that saw him score a brace and complete two assists during a 4-2 victory against Leicester.
Bourneouth manager Scott Parker, on the other hand, will have to make a late call on Dominic Solanke’s fitness.
Solanke missed last week’s 4-0 thrashing by defending Premier League champions Manchester City due to an ankle injury.
Parker could hand a first start to summer signing Marcos Senesi, but fellow arrivals Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell are out with a calf and quad injury respectively.
Jordan Zemura is not expected to return for the Cherries after recently testing positive for coronavirus
Credit: GETTY
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
