Arsenal will travel to Vitality stadium for today’s match against Bournemouth looking for their third win in a row in order to push them up the table to third and will be looking to capitalize on the points dropped by Liverpool against Sunderland. A win against the Cherries will cut the gap between them and Liverpool to just a point and will bring them within 6 points of Chelsea who face Spurs tomorrow.
The Gunners who have recovered from their disappointments against Everton and Manchester City to register back to back wins against West Brom and Crystal Palace, will be gunning for nothing less than three points when they travel to Bournemouth in order to seek a long winning run to help them get their hands on the long awaited League Title
Bournemouth will certainly prove to be a stern opposition even in the absense of our Loanee Jack Wilshere who is ineligible to play, as they shown in the reverse fixture against us. Their hard fought win against Liverpool this season certainly shows them to be a fierce opposition.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Lineup:
Defense :
Petr Cech will once again start in goal after clinching back-to-back clean sheets in the previous two fixtures and will be hoping to make it three on the trot.
Much to relief of the Emirates faithful, Skodran Mustafi is expected to return to the starting line up after missing quite a few games and is expected to partner Koscielny at the heart of the defence. Gabriel has performed quite admirably in his absence but it set to be rested for tonight’s match in order to stay fit for the FA Cup match coming up next.
Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal are expected to start on their respective positions on the flank with Kieran Gibbs still out injured from his knee injury suffered against West Brom.
Midfield :
With Santi still out injured and Elneny off to Gabon for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, options at the heart of the midfield are quite thin as compared to August. Coquelin who came on as a substitute in the game against Palace is expected to replace the Egypt international in the line-up. Along with him Ramsey is expected to start against the Cherries after returning from his recent hamstring strain and is expected to be fully fit for the match. The Welsh international has been out of form and has featured sparingly in the first half of the season and must use this opportunity to return to his best .
In the number 10 role Iwobi is likely to feature in the absence of Ozil who is still out with illness. Iwobi impressed in his favoured number 10 role with a matured and lively display against Palace and is set to retain his position after scoring his first headed goal of his career in the last game.
Attack :
Perez started on the wings against the eagles and was highly influential and looked like a solid option on the wing but is expected to return to the bench with Chamberlain coming on to replace him. Chamberlain has shown quite an improvement this season and can pose a lot of threat by combining with Bellerin behind him
Sanchez is almost certainly expected to start no matter how tired he gets and is set to feature on the left wing.
Up top Oliver ‘scorpion’ Giroud has cemented his place in the team with his match winning performances and his flair for the occasional ‘goal of the year’.
Possible Arsenal XI: Petr Cech, Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Skodran Mustafi, , Hector Bellerin, Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi, Sanchez, Giroud .
