Arsenal will look to bounce back from their 4-0 loss to Southampton on Boxing Day, with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger expected to make a few changes for the visit of Bournemouth to the Emirates after having named the same starting line-up for the clubs last four matches.
Arsenal had the chance to go top of the league with a win at St Mary’s thanks to Liverpool beating Leicester City earlier in the day, but in the end suffered a humiliating loss to a side that were more than a match for Arsenal on the day.
Manager Arsene Wenger said he was pleased with the performance of substitutes Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Calum Chambers and Alex Iwobi, which means they could get a start, and with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny looking absolutely knackered, we would expect to see at least one of them rested with Wenger brining in Gabriel Paulista in their place.
Wenger also hinted at giving Mesut Ozil a rest during the holiday fixture list, and feel this would be as good a game as any to let the little German put his feet up and allow Arsene Ramsey to play in the No.10 role that he so desperately wants, while allowing Calum Chambers to slot in as a defensive midfielder a position he has been training for ever since the injury to Francis Coquelin.
Arsenal has a very short turnaround for tomorrow night’s match against the Cherries and with none of the side-lined squad ready to return from injury there will be some tired looking legs out on the pitch.
Speaking about his team following the loss to Southampton Wenger said: “These players have fantastic spirit and they can show that in 48 hours. We are in a job where we have to respond. We want to respond from disappointments.
“Unfortunately, there’s no possible career without disappointment. Nobody, not even the best players in the world, can have that.
“It’s down to how you respond and I trust my players to respond in a very strong way on Monday.”
If Arsenal should win, they will go top at least until Tuesday night when Leicester City takes on Manchester City at the King Power Stadium hoping to bounce back from their 0-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield.
At the start of the season any visit by newly promoted Bournemouth would have been looked upon as an easy three points, but with Eddie Howe’s team unbeaten since November 7th Arsenal will be leaving nothing to chance.
Goalkeeper
Arsene Wenger may be tempted to give Petr Cech a rest and play Ospina, but we fell this would be a huge mistake as Cech in goal can be the difference between a draw and taking all of the points.
Defence
In will come Gabriel Paulista for Per Mertesacker while Kieran Gibbs will provide a well-deserved rest for Nacho Monreal with the Spaniard left-back having started every Arsenal league game this season. 20-year-old Hector Bellerin will be in his usual right-back role, while Laurent Koscielny will be pleased not to have to play against Shane Long again.
Midfield
With no one to play in Flamini’s holding midfield role the Frenchman will be called upon to start once more, but alongside him will be youngster Calum Chambers for Aaron Ramsey allowing the Welshman to assume the rested Mesut Ozil’s playmaker role behind Olivier Giroud.
Costa Rican Joel Campbell will also find himself on the bench while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has the chance to prove why he should be Wenger’s preferred starter rather than the Central American.
Striker
Olivier Giroud of course will as usual be called upon to lead the Gunners front line, and while not having scored during the during the Southampton match has to be a good bet to find the back of the net against Bournemouth, which has us betting the big Frenchman at odds of 4/5 with Bet365.
