Saturday Premier League Cup Preview and Odds – Arsenal vs AFC Bournemouth
September 09, 2017 15:00pm
The Emirates Stadium
Recent form (All competitions)
Arsenal: LLWWW
AFC Bournemouth: LDWLD
Two sides currently sat in the bottom five of the Premier League will meet on Saturday afternoon as 16th-ranked Arsenal take on pointless AFC Bournemouth at the Emirates stadium.
The Home side will be keen to haul themselves up the table as quickly as possible and avoid getting cut adrift in the race for the top four. With two defeats to their name already, it hasn’t been the ideal start for Arsene Wenger’s men. Their only points of the season came in the exciting 4-3 win at home to Leicester City on the opening day and since then they have fallen away from home to Stoke City and Liverpool.
While the performance against Stoke could be considered under par, the display against Liverpool (4-0) was downright atrocious by their standards and the North London side will be keen to make amends this weekend.
On a positive note, Wenger’s men have never lost to Bournemouth, having claimed three victories and played out one drawn in their four previous encounters.
AFC Bournemouth have lost all three of their games this season but could be forgiven for feeling a little hard done by when losing to a late Man City goal last time out. Despite that, they will want to avoid licking their wounds as they prepare for another clash against one of the contenders for a top four finish.
The Cherries have only won one Premier League match on the road in 2017 and that victory came against the hapless Sunderland side that finished bottom of the table last term.
Prediction
Arsenal may have had a stuttering start but they have been in a similar position before and always seem to find a way back. There is no doubting the quality in their squad and that should prove too much for a Bournemouth side who are not great on the road and have a poor record when visiting the top sides.
You can back Arsenal -1 in the Handicap market at Evens with Betfair.