Struggling Bournemouth are hoping to cause an upset on Sunday when they welcome troubled sixth-placed Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium. The Gunners produced a solid performance in the reverse fixture in September, they won it 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium with two goals from Danny Welbeck and another from Alexandre Lacazette. Last season the direct match at the Vitality Stadium ended 3-3 as Arsenal managed to fight back from 3-0 down, while the Gunners won 3-1 in London. All the last five matches between these sides had two or more goals in them.
Bournemouth are struggling to keep afloat this season, they have won just five of their 22 Premier League matches so far and are just one point above the relegation zone. After Christmas they did well to recover from four consecutive defeats and recorded four games unbeaten in all competitions but won just one of them. Last week they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Wigan in the FA Cup, which means they will have to face a replay. Tyrone Mings, Jermain Defoe and Junior Stanislas are all injured for the home side.
Arsenal have won just three of their last ten matches in all competitions, a terrible record for a team that aims to finish in the Premier League top four. However, they have lost just one of those matches: 4-2 at Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup last week. After that shameful result they managed to pull off a goalless draw at Chelsea in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, but they really need to gather a string of Premier League wins in order to boost their chances of finishing in the top four. Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Sead Kolasinac remain injured, while Jack Wilshere, Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil are doubts.
Probable line-ups:
Bournemouth: Begovic - Smith, Francis, Ake, Daniels - Fraser, L. Cook, Surman, Pugh - Mousset - Wilson
Arsenal: Cech - Chambers, Mustafi, Holding - Bellerin, Elneny, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles - Sanchez, Ozil - Lacazette
My prediction: 2-2 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Bournemouth win - 4.75
Draw - 4.20
Arsenal win - 1.75
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