Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth Betting Tips

Arsenal v Bournemouth means we have two of the most exciting teams in the Premier League come head-to-head. Both of these sides prioritise playing beautiful football over anything else so we should see a real spectacle on Sunday afternoon. Some would even say we have a master versus the apprentice scenario with Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe mooted to take over the Arsenal hot-seat when Arsene Wenger vacates it – whenever that may be.

Arsene Wenger’s team always look like title-contenders in the early part of the season before fading away sometime after Christmas when the crunch games come. Of course they have looked good so far this season but we can only really judge The Gunners when the serious business comes about in February/March time.

Arsenal were already through to the Champions League knockout rounds before the visit of Paris Saint-Germain in midweek but, having managed just a draw against the under-performing French side, it now looks like they will only qualify in second spot and be in the dreaded position of being an unseeded side for the last 16 draw.

The Gunners currently sit fourth in the table and three points off Chelsea in top spot. They have lost just once this season and that was on opening day, however, they have drawn their last three matches in all competitions. The fact that these were against rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United before that match against PSG perhaps shows that once again they do not possess the character to beat the bigger teams. This match against Bournemouth will be a chance to get back on track but even if they beat the Cherries, there will still be question marks over the team.

Bournemouth are actually doing pretty well for themselves and are currently 10th in the league. This rather lofty position has even led to some players saying the Cherries can make European football. Whilst that is undoubtedly the dream long term, you cannot help but feel that asking for it now after just one season in the top flight is jumping the gun a bit.

This rise to the top half of the table has mainly been thanks to their home form which had been excellent with three wins and a draw in four matches before a surprising loss to relegation-threatened Sunderland.

Overall there form had not been great leading up to the international break with just one point gained in the three games prior to the break, however, they managed to recover from their setback to record an impressive win away at Stoke City which, although it is a bit of a cliché, is a notoriously difficult place to go.

Unfortunately Eddie Howe’s side have been pretty poor on the road this season with that recent victory at Stoke being the first away win all campaign. Additionally, The Cherries will be without key loan midfielder Jack Wilshere who is not allowed to play against his parent club.

It will be interesting to see how Eddie Howe sets up his team here. Does he go with his philosophy and look to attack Arsenal which could backfire? A tactic which did them no favours against Manchester City back in September where Bournemouth lost 4-0. Or, does he look to be a bit more solid and try and take a point – just like Middlesbrough did at Arsenal a few weeks ago before doing the same away at Manchester City.

I personally think he will go with the former, Eddie Howe has not changed his philosophies in the past, no matter who they play, so why would he do so now?

This of course leads me to believe that Arsenal will take advantage of Bournemouth’s open style and win convincingly.

With these two sides intent on playing attacking football, we should see a high number of goals here – particularly for the home side. The Gunners really should be putting a few passed Bournemouth. With this in mind, ‘Arsenal to Score Over 2.5 Goals’, at 7/5, is very generous and is well worth taking advantage of.

Staying with the goals theme, I’d also advise looking at the Total Goals market and go for ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ at 8/5. Although Arsenal should score a decent number of goals themselves, do not discount Bournemouth here. Whilst they probably will not win, they have a lot of firepower which could cause an Arsenal defence, who haven’t kept a clean sheet in five matches, a few problems.

Finally, as previously mentioned, I think Arsenal should come out on top in fairly convincing fashion and thus ‘Arsenal -1 Handicap’ at odds of 11/10 is another good-looking selection. The Gunners have won by two or more goals in four of their matches (all-competitions) in front of a home crowd this season and look as though they could easily make this five on Sunday.

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