ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PREVIEW - ARSENAL VS BOURNEMOUTH

English Premier

2025-05-03 - Arsenal vs Bournemouth

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Arsenal v Bournemouth
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 3rd May 2025 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV

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Arsenal

They had their chances, arguably clearer ones than what Paris Saint-Germain produced on Tuesday evening, but ultimately the final 0-1 scoreline has left Arsenal in a very difficult spot. Difficult, but not impossible and that Second Leg in the Champions League Semi Final is a potential distraction this weekend.

You won't have many people rushing out to back against Arsenal making the top five in the Premier League, but there has to be some care and attention taken with that battle developing behind them. Before the Thursday fixture at the City Ground, Arsenal are 7 points clear of Nottingham Forest outside of the top five and that gap could feel much closer with the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa playing before The Gunners this weekend. The side have a 10-6-1 record at the Emirates Stadium this season where Arsenal have scored 33 goals and conceded 15 in the top flight.

Arsenal saw their 12 game unbeaten run in all competitions ended at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and that run had begun after another 0-1 home defeat. Since that loss to West Ham United, Arsenal have only won 3 of 8 games at the Emirates Stadium and they have drawn consecutive Premier League fixtures here against Brentford and Crystal Palace.

Changes are expected with the Champions League Semi Final Second Leg in mind and the likes of Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling may be given starts.

Bournemouth

An appeal was lodged after Evanilson's sending off against Manchester United and there may be some frustration in the Bournemouth camp that the decision has been overturned. The striker will be available for the run-in, but playing with ten men on Sunday was tough and Bournemouth conceded an injury time equaliser against Manchester United and that could yet prove to be costly.

Dropping those two points also meant Bournemouth dropping down into 10th place in the Premier League table after both Fulham and Brighton won fixtures to move past them. The battle for 8th is still intense even as it remains unclear if that will be a position that takes a club into European Football. For now The Cherries are only concentrating on improving the 6-7-4 away record produced in the Premier League.

Bournemouth conceded late on Sunday and that has meant the team have only produced a single win in 11 games in all competitions, even if they have extended an unbeaten League run to 4. Following a win at St Mary's, Bournemouth were beaten at Brighton and have since drawn 3 away Premier League games in succession.

Luis Sinisterra continues to be patient as he bids to return to the squad. Evanilson will be available, despite his sending off last time out.

Head to Head

Bournemouth took advantage of William Saliba's dismissal in a 2-0 home win over Arsenal earlier this season.

Last season both fixtures were won convincingly by Arsenal, including a 3-0 win here.

That victory means Arsenal have won all 8 home games previously played against Bournemouth.

Prediction

The layers are clearly very aware that the Arsenal starting eleven could be significantly changed for this Premier League game and the drift on the home price is an indication of that.

In normal circumstances, Arsenal would not be odds against to beat Bournemouth at home for a ninth time in their history, but the Champions League Semi Final Second Leg casts a cloud over the team selection.

Mikel Arteta's team do have to be slightly careful- they are on course for a top five finish, but a defeat on Saturday could really open the door to those behind them and Arsenal have to travel to Anfield next Sunday.

With that in mind, you have to believe this will be something of a mixed starting lineup with players like Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko coming in and offering Arsenal quality replacements. There is also a feeling that the manager could pick some of his stronger attacking players so they can build some rhythm and especially having played on Tuesday before this one and next out on Wednesday.

Andoni Iraola will be taking a frustrated Bournemouth into this fixture after conceding late last week, but Evanilson will not have to serve a suspension and that is important for a team chasing a top eight finish. This may not be enough to bring European Football to the Vitality Stadium, but Bournemouth will push to finish in those positions and they have shown they can be very dangerous going forward.

If the home team is distracted, Bournemouth can hurt them, but there are defensive vulnerabilities that have been displayed by the team and contributed to the poor run of form. Prior to the draw at Selhurst Park, Bournemouth had conceded at least twice in 5 of their previous 7 away League games, including 3 in a row.

However, they have scored plenty of goals in that time too and this may be a fixture that features at least three goals.

The price has been inflated with the layers perhaps believing that Arsenal will not have many of their starting attackers on the field, but the likes of Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri are capable of finding spaces against this Bournemouth back line.

Before the 2-0 home win at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season, the previous 5 games between Arsenal and Bournemouth had all finished with at least three goals shared out.

It is another tough game to predict and that is largely down to the uncertainty around Arsenal and the kind of team they will select. With that in mind, Bournemouth could look a very big price right now and it could be much shorter at kick off, but backing goals may still be the best approach for this late Saturday kick off in the English top flight.

The Pick :

Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.91 with BetFred