Sometimes the matches you're supposed to win are the most difficult in the Premier League. That's the task facing leaders Arsenal on Saturday when they welcome second-from-bottom Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal's closest challengers for the title, defending champs Manchester City, will have played earlier in the day against a strong Newcastle side, and there's a distinct prospect that the Gunners could have a chance to extend their five-point lead heading into the weekend.
This Gunners team look equipped to take that opportunity should it present itself, especially after demolishing Everton 4-0 in midweek. Manager Mikel Arteta's side claimed a 3-0 win on Bournemouth's home turf earlier this season.
Should they earn that victory against Bournemouth, it would represent their 20th in 26 matches. The famous Invincibles team had 19 victories at the same point of the 2003/04 season, the last time that the Gunners won the English title.
MORE: Arsenal odds to win Premier League title in 2022/23
Arsenal vs Bournemouth live stream, TV channel
Arsenal have a 12W-2L-2D record at the Emirates so far in the 2022/23 season and they will look to take advantage of a second-straight home match against a relegation-threatened side.
| Date | Time | TV | Streaming | |
| Australia | Sun, Mar 5 | 02:00 AEDT | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | Sat, Mar 4 | 10:00 ET | — | |
| Hong Kong | Sun, Mar 5 | 23:00 HKT | Now Premier League (Ch. 620-621) | Now E, Now Player |
| India | Sat, Mar 4 | 20:30 IST | Star Sports Select | Hotstar, JioTV |
| Malaysia | Sat, Mar 4 | 23:00 MYT | — | Astro Go |
| New Zealand | Sun, Mar 5 | 04:00 NZDT | Sky Sport 1 | Sky Sport Now |
| Singapore | Sat, Mar 4 | 23:00 SGT | Hub Premier (Ch. 221) | StarHub TV+ |
| UK | Sat, Mar 4 | 15:00 GMT | — | — |
| USA | Sat, Mar 4 | 10:00 ET | — | Peacock |
UK: The match will not be televised in the UK given the 15:00 GMT blackout.
USA: This Arsenal vs. Bournemouth match will be available exclusively on NBC streaming platform Peacock.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via fuboTV in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches are available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
MORE: How many times have Arsenal won the Premier League?
Arsenal vs Bournemouth lineups, team news
With a match last Wednesday and another coming up on Thursday in the Europa League, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be shuffling personnel at some point, but he'll likely stick with his first-choice lineup for this Premier League match. Thomas Partey is expected to replace Jorginho in the starting lineup, while Leandro Trossard should start again at centre-forward with Eddie Nketiah's injury still being assessed and Gabriel Jesus out.
Arsenal projected lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Aaron Ramsdale (GK) — 4-Ben White, 12-William Saliba, 6-Gabriel, 35-Oleksandr Zinchenko — 8-Martin Odegaard, 5-Thomas Partey, 34-Granit Xhaka — 7-Bukayo Saka, 19-Leandro Trossard, 11-Gabriel Martinelli
Arsenal projected subs (9): 30-Matt Turner (GK), 15-Jakub Kiwior, 16-Rob Holding, 3-Kieran Tierney, 18-Takehiro Tomiyasu, 20-Jorginho, 21-Fabio Vieira, 10-Emile Smith Rowe
MORE: Latest Real Madrid transfer news for January 2023 window
Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil will be happy to have Lewis Cook back as part of the squad after missing six weeks with a knee injury. But the injury list is still long with six players confirmed out: Illia Zabarnyi (ankle), Marcus Tavernier (hamstring), David Brooks (hamstring), Matias Vina (knee), Junior Stanislas (muscle), and Lloyd Kelly (calf).
Bournemouth projected starting lineup (5-4-1, right to left): 13-Neto (GK) — 15-Adam Smith, 6-Chris Mepham, 3-Jack Stephens, 25-Marcos Sensi, 33-Jordan Zemura — 11-Dango Ouattara, 8-Jefferson Lerma, 29-Philip Billing, 22-Hamed Traore — 9-Dominic Solanke.
Bournemouth projected subs (9): 1-Mark Travers (GK), 17-Jack Stacey, 2-Ryan Fredericks, 10-Ryan Christie, 14-Joe Rothwell, 4-Lewis Cook, 24-Antoine Semenyo, 21-Kieffer Moore, 32-Jaidon Anthony.
MORE: Where Arsenal's attacking foursome rank among top scorers
Arsenal vs Bournemouth odds
The betting market is calling for an Arsenal win — likely in a shutout — and with at least three goals given the over/under line is at 3.5.
That's exactly what a reasonable observer would expect from this game based on Arsenal's recent showing at home (4-0 vs. Everton) and the 4-1 defeat suffered by the injury-riddled Cherries at the hands of Manchester City last time out.
MORE: Premier League relegation odds 2022/23
| BetMGM (USA) | Sports Interaction (Canada) | SkyBet (UK) | Neds (Australia) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal win | -500 | 1.18 | 1/6 | 1.20 |
| Draw (90 mins) | +550 | 6.88 | 6/1 | 6.00 |
| Bournemouth win | +1400 | 13.00 | 14/1 | 13.00 |
| Both teams to score (Y / N) | +130 / -190 | 2.16 / 1.54 | 6/5, 8/13 | 2.25 / 1.60 |
| Over / Under 3.5 total goals | +138 / -190 | 2.38 / 1.56 | 5/4, 4/7 | 2.40 / 1.55 |
| Arsenal -1.5 | -175 | 1.61 | — | — |
| Bournemouth +1.5 | +120 | 2.27 | — | — |
