Key events
Myles Lewis-Skelly starts for Arsenal
The 19-year-old makes only his second Premier League start of the season, coming in at left-back in place of Riccardo Calafiori. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are in for Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard in Mikel Arteta’s two other changes. Odegaard is not in the matchday squad.
Early team news
Mikel Arteta was coy on the the fitness concerns surrounding his squad during his pre-match press conference but said “there will be changes” to the team that started against Sporting. He did assure reporters that Eberechi Eze is available for selection. “The will that he’s shown from day one to get back as quick as possible, how he’s pushed the medical staff and himself to be there, it’s just great to watch,” he said.
Mikel Merino remains sidelined, while there are doubts over the fitness of Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Piero Hincapie for today’s game. “I don’t know,” Arteta said upon being asked who would be be able to play. “Some of them.”
For Bournemouth, Justin Kluivert and Lewis Cook are definitely out, while Andoni Iraola said Junior Kroupi and Alex Jimenez “are fully recovered and ready to go” after recovering from niggles they picked up on international duty.
Iraola said Kluivert is recovering well after knee surgery and is eager to return to action as soon as possible in a bid to keep his hopes of playing for the Netherlands at the World Cup alive. “He’s doing really well but we cannot do stupid things,” said Iraola. “We have to give the time that everybody needs.”
Premier League: Arsenal v Bournemouth
To the Emirates, where a win for league leaders Arsenal will move them 12 points clear of Manchester City for a day at least, albeit having played two games more and with a mouthwatering clash between the two sides slated for next weekend. Today’s match against Bournemouth is Arsenal’s first League match in almost a month and they come into it on the back of a creditable but workmanlike away win against Sporting in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League.
The stalemate specialists from the south coast arrive at the Emirates on the back of five consecutive top flight draws (out of 15 so far this season), the most recent coming against Manchester United at the Vitality Stadium. In 13th place, with their head coach’s future clouded with uncertainty, Bournemouth remain in contention for European qualification, despite their mid-table position. Kick-off at the Emirates is at 12.30pm (BST) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
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