Arsenal vs Bournemouth
Arsenal are a few wins away from winning their first Premier League title in more than two decades, and Mikel Arteta’s men have full control of their fate, unlike in previous years. The Gunners are currently on a four-game winning streak and have built a nine-point cushion, though the second-seeded Manchester City have a game in hand.
Following their recent setbacks against Manchester City and Southampton in the EFL Cup final and FA Cup quarter-finals, Arsenal bounced back with a 1-0 win against Sporting in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-finals tie, and a double is still in the cards.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League matches, but they are 13th in the English top-flight standings with 42 points, level with 12th-seeded Newcastle United.
A win would certainly help both sides, but only one can get it at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Talking Points
Raya the unsung hero for Arsenal
After conceding two goals in their losses against Manchester City and Southampton with Kepa as their goalkeeper, Arsenal are back to securing clean sheets, as they did so against Sporting yesterday in Lisbon, and they have David Raya mainly to thank for that.
Raya was named Man of the Match last night, despite not having scored a goal. The Spanish goalkeeper was excellent between the sticks, recording five saves and going 26-for-28 in accurate passes and 3-for-4 in long balls. He saved a certain goal from Maximiliano Araujo in the sixth minute before blocking Geny Catamo’s close-range header in the second half.
He continues to make a strong case for being Arsenal’s Player of the Season with his composure in goal. By the way, Raya also leads the Premier League in clean sheets with 15, four more than second-placers Jordan Pickford and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Kai Havertz scored the winning goal less than 10 minutes after Raya saved Catamo’s shot, as the former Bayer Leverkusen man was set up nicely by Gabriel Martinelli. Arsenal had one more thing to celebrate, as Max Dowman became the youngest-ever player to play in the Champions League quarter-finals at 16 years and 97 days old.
Too many draws for Bournemouth
Bournemouth haven’t tasted a Premier League defeat in quite some time, but they aren’t getting many wins either. Andoni Iraola’s side has recorded five consecutive draws, and his Cherries could become the first side in the competition to draw six in a row since Manchester City in November 2009 (D7).
The Cherries haven’t played since their 2-2 draw against the 10-man Red Devils last month, where Eli Junior Kroupi’s late penalty gave them a point. The 19-year-old striker already has nine Premier League goals this term, and he could become the first teenager since Robbie Keane in 1999-00 (12) to hit double-digit goals in his debut season in the English top-flight.
History
Before Bournemouth went on an 11-game undefeated run in the Premier League, they lost 3-2 to Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium in early January. Evanilson and Eli Junior Kroupi were on the scoresheet for the Cherries, while Gabriel and Declan Rice (brace) scored goals for the Gunners.
Having won each of their first eight home games against Bournemouth in all competitions, Arsenal lost this exact league fixture 2-1 last season. Bournemouth have won two of their last three league matches against Arsenal, more than they had in their previous 14 (W1, D2, L11).
Arsenal have won their last four Premier League matches and are aiming to make it five in a row for the third time this season. It would be only the third Premier League season in which the Gunners have had three separate runs of at least five successive wins after 2013-14 and 2022-23.
Betting Tip
The Premier League 2026 odds predict Arsenal completing a league double over Bournemouth this Saturday. The Gunners are 1.39 favourites, while the Cherries are big 6.30 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.37 in the 1X2 market.
Both teams should produce enough Premier League 2026 highlights, with the Gunners likely to score more. Interestingly, the Cherries have been a better first-half team than in the second half this term. Besides rooting for Arsenal to take maximum points, SBOTOP punters may also add Over 2.50 at 1.63, Over 2.75 at 1.83, and Total Goals 2-3 at 2.07 to the parlay.
Moreover, check out the Correct Score of 3-2 in favour of Arsenal – the result of their earlier meeting this term – given its staggering offer of 25.00 your bet.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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