Arsenal seek to extend their lead at the top against Bournemouth

League leaders Arsenal travel to Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth in their first fixture of the New Year on Saturday.

Arsenal battered Aston Villa 4-1 last time out to maintain their lead at the summit.

Bournemouth were held to a 2-2 draw at Chelsea in their last outing, and the Cherries will be keen to return to winning ways.

Match preview

Having won just one of their first 14 Premier League games against Arsenal (D2 L11), Bournemouth did the double over the Gunners last season.

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

The Cherries 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.

Bournemouth beat Everton 1-0 in their first league game of 2025. They’ve not won their opening match in consecutive calendar years since 2011/2012, beating Swindon and Wycombe respectively in League One.

The Gunners have lost their opening league game in just one of the last 10 calendar years (W7 D2), going down 2-1 at home to Man City on New Year’s Day 2022.

Andoni Iraola’s side are winless in their last 10 Premier League games (D5 L5). It’s their longest ever run without a win within the same top-flight campaign.

Arsenal have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League games (W12 D3), winning the last four in a row since a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

After losing four consecutive home league games between February and April last year, Bournemouth have lost just two of their last 13 (W6 D5).

Team news

Bournemouth

Ryan Christie, Ben Gannon-Doak, Veljko Milosavljevic and Tyler Adams are unavailable with injuries.

Arsenal

Declan Rice is in contention for selection after his knee injury last weekend.

Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori and Max Dowman are sidelined with injuries.

Predicted line-ups

Bournemouth: Djordje Petrovic, Adam Smith, James Hill, Marcos Senesi, Adrien Truffert, Marcus Tavernier, Alex Scott, David Brooks, Justin Kluivert, Antoine Semenyo, Evanilson.

Arsenal: David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Piero Hincapié, Martin Ødegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Viktor Gyökeres.