Arsenal vs Bournemouth preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Under 3.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Arsenal to win

Arsenal are on the verge of equalling their best Premier League winning run of the 2025-26 campaign.

Amid the domestic cup disappointment and Champions League celebrations, it has been easy to turn a blind eye to Arsenal's position in the Premier League, where Mikel Arteta's men have won four games on the spin to breach the 70-point barrier.

The Gunners have already won five straight Premier League games on two separate occasions this season. Only in 2013-14 and 2022-23 have they had three different streaks of 5+ Premier League victories in one campaign.

While neither the EFL Cup or FA Cup will be glistening in Arsenal's trophy case this summer, Arteta's men have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals thanks to Tuesday's gritty 1-0 first-leg win over Sporting Lisbon, whom they host again at the Emirates next Wednesday.

In the other dugout, Andoni Iraola is also endeavouring to write a new chapter of Bournemouth history, by overseeing the Cherries' longest-ever Premier League unbeaten run.

The visitors have miraculously avoided defeat in each of their last 11 top-flight contests - never before have they gone 12 without losing in the Premier League. However, seven of those clashes have ended all square, including each of their last five.

Sitting in 13th place, a four-point gap to seventh-placed Brentford is far from insurmountable for Iraola's side, who have managed to avoid defeat on each of their last five Premier League away days, albeit while playing out back-to-back 0-0 draws in their most recent two road trips.

The Cherries have got the better of Arsenal twice since the start of last season - including a shock 2-1 Emirates victory just under a year ago, their first-ever win away to the Gunners.

However, Arteta masterminded a thrilling 3-2 Vitality Stadium success in January, when Declan Rice popped up with a decisive double.

Bournemouth have won two of their last three league games against Arsenal, more than they had in their previous 14 (W1 D2 L11). However, they have lost 12 of their 13 Premier League games against sides starting the day top of the table, with the exception being a 2-1 home win over Manchester City in November 2024.

And the Gunners have only failed to score in one of their 16 Premier League games against Bournemouth, though that was in a 2-0 defeat in this exact fixture last season.

Arsenal Premier League form: 🟧🟧🟩🟩🟩🟩

Arsenal form (all competitions): 🟧🟩🟩🟥🟥🟩

Bournemouth Premier League form: 🟩🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber will be assessed ahead of the game, after missing the 1-0 win over Sporting. Noni Madueke deputised for Saka in Portugal to limited effect, while Ben White kept his place in the absence of the Dutch right-back.

Eberechi Eze remains sidelined, but there is hope he will return by the end of the month. Piero Hincapie and Mikel Merino are longer-term absentees.

Bournemouth will hope to welcome Eli Junior Kroupi back for the trip to the Emirates. Boasting nine goals for the Premier League season, Kroupi could become the first teenager in 26 years to score 10+ times in his maiden Premier League campaign, after Robbie Keane for Coventry City in 1999-00.

Tyler Adams (unspecified) and Lewis Cook (thigh) have not been firmly ruled out just yet either, but Justin Kluivert (knee) and Julio Soler (thigh) will not be back until next month.

Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Havertz, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli

Bournemouth: Petrovic; Jimenez, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Christie, Scott; Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier; Evanilson

It will be interesting to see how much Mikel Arteta rotates against a Bournemouth side who are capable of beating any team on their day. One eye will surely be on the visit of Sporting in the Champions League next Wednesday, but the Gunners head coach will not want to jeopardise the title chances in any way.

That said, while Arsenal are unlikely to produce a pretty, free-flowing performance, they should still have enough to end Bournemouth's praiseworthy unbeaten streak.

Correct score prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Bournemouth