Arsenal travel south for a testing return to Premier League action against Bournemouth on Saturday evening.
The Gunners are unbeaten across all 10 of their matches this season – the club’s longest wait for their first defeat of a campaign since 2007/08. In that same year, Bournemouth were relegated to the fourth tier of English football.
Plenty has changed over the subsequent decade-and-a-half but Arsenal remain heavy favourites for the upcoming contest. Here’s the lineup Mikel Arteta could deploy to extend that unbeaten start.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Bournemouth (4-3-3)
GK: David Raya – The former Brentford shot-stopper has emphatically embraced his role as Arsenal’s undisputed number one, putting up the best save percentage of his career (81%) since he was relegated to League One with Blackburn Rovers in 2017.
RB: Jurrien Timber – An injury-riddled debut campaign in north London coupled with Arsenal’s fast start to the season has ensured that Timber is yet to taste defeat for the Gunners. His last loss at any level was in May 2023.
CB: William Saliba – Arsenal’s elite centre-back has fond memories of Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. When the Gunners romped to 3-0 win on the south coast in August 2022, Saliba’s catchy chant – which is sung to the tune of The Champs’ Tequila – was belted out by the travelling fans and his own players in the dressing room post-game.
CB: Gabriel – The towering defender has scored more Premier League goals than Kevin De Bruyne, Alexander Isak and Marcus Rashford this season.
LB: Riccardo Calafiori – The smooth-talking Italian revealed this week that he learned English from Netflix and UK drill.
CM: Declan Rice – Despite netting two goals during Lee Carsley’s fleetingly brief spell as England interim manager, Rice is still waiting for his first Premier League strike of the season.
CM: Thomas Partey – Injury forced the Ghana international to miss his nation’s double-header against Sudan this month, but he is fit for Saturday’s southern sojourn.
CM: Mikel Merino – Afforded his Premier League debut against Southampton and handed 90 minutes across two appearances for Spain over the international break, Merino could be in line for his first Arsenal start on Saturday.
RW: Bukayo Saka – Heading into this weekend’s fixtures, no player in the Premier League has been involved in more shots than Saka – taking 25 himself, setting up 18 and having a hand in eight more, per Opta.
ST: Kai Havertz – On Arsenal’s last Premier League visit to the Vitality Stadium, Havertz was given a penalty out of pity, almost too embarrassed to celebrate his first goal for the club. After racking up six already this season, the record-equalling forward has had plenty of celebration practice.
LW: Leandro Trossard – As impressive as his form this season has been, Trossard has also proven to be precise and efficient off the pitch. The Lego enthusiast spent the COVID-19 lockdown building a replica of the Taj Mahal.
