Preview: Bournemouth vs Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

Having ended 2025 as they mean to start 2026, Premier League leaders Arsenal head south to tackle Bournemouth on Saturday, in their inaugural fixture of the New Year.

The Gunners ran riot in a 4-1 battering of Aston Villa in their midweek affair, while the Cherries' valiant efforts against Chelsea were not enough to snap their winless sequence.

Match preview

One of Villa's 11 victims during the Lions' magnificent winning run, a Declan Rice-less Arsenal initially found the going tough against Unai Emery's team in midweek, but the customary Gabriel Magalhaes corner goal sparked a second-half Emirates embarrassment.

Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus also helped themselves to goals as Arsenal laid down the biggest marker yet in the Premier League title race, ensuring that they would enter the New Year looking down on every other team in the English football pyramid.

Emery's handshake snub stole the post-match headlines, but that incident was trivial for Mikel Arteta, whose side refreshingly converted their plentiful chances into multiple goals and ended 2025 with the most points won of any Premier League team (83).

Victory over Villa also marked Arsenal's sixth win on the spin across all competitions - and their fourth in a row in the Premier League - although a record of one success from their last four top-flight away matches does not paint the prettiest picture before the trip south.

However, that triumph came in Arsenal's most recent road sojourn against Everton, and the visitors have found the back of the net in 12 of their 13 away matches in all tournaments this season, only being shut out by Liverpool in August.

Also scoring in all but one of their away games in 2025-26, Bournemouth continued their commitment to entertainment at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening, albeit without the three points they so desperately crave.

Andoni Iraola's men took the lead, surrendered it, fell behind and clawed their way back in a frenetic 2-2 draw with Chelsea, whom all goals were scored for and against before the 30-minute mark, but the Cherries' painful winless run has now stretched into the double figures.

Since taking down Nottingham Forest at the end of October - at which point a Champions League charge was looking plausible - Bournemouth have recorded five draws and five losses in the top flight to plummet down the Premier League rankings, although they are still nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Nevertheless, Bournemouth's dire sequence has done Iraola's future job prospects no favours whatsoever, and the hosts have also scored just the one goal in their last three home games, a grim statistic ahead of Antoine Semenyo's expected departure.

Iraola did lead Bournemouth to a historic double over Arsenal in the 2024-25 Premier League season, though - including a 2-0 success in this exact fixture - but the Gunners have scored in each of their other eight previous visits to the Vitality.

Bournemouth Premier League form:

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Team News

The injured Rice cut a beaming figure on the Emirates sidelines on Tuesday night, despite being ruled out in the lead-up to kickoff with a knee injury, but Arteta played down the severity of his concern and expressed hope that he would be fit for the weekend.

Goalscorer Gabriel should also be good to go again despite a suspected bout of cramp late on, and the Brazilian's return to the first XI was one of a few welcome sights for Arsenal in midweek, the others being Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Ben White's inclusions in the matchday squad.

However, Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) and Riccardo Calafiori (unspecified) will both need once-overs before Saturday's showdown, while teenage phenom Max Dowman - who turned 16 on New Year's Eve - is still out with an ankle injury.

Doing in one minute what Viktor Gyokeres could not do in 77 against Villa, Jesus has surely put his name in the hat for a start over the struggling Swede this weekend, but changes should otherwise be few and far between.

On Bournemouth's end, many wondered whether Semenyo was bidding farewell to the Cherries faithful at full time on Tuesday, but Iraola has categorically affirmed that the Manchester City-bound winger will be available to face the Gunners this weekend.

That is more than can be said for the injured Ben Gannon-Doak (thigh), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Tyler Adams (knee), though, while Lewis Cook (neck) and Ryan Christie (knee) will both require late fitness tests.

Bournemouth possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert; Scott, Tavernier; Brooks, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Jesus, Trossard

We say: Bournemouth 1-3 Arsenal

Whether Man City are willing to delay their Semenyo signing to have the Ghanaian face Arsenal only they and Bournemouth know, but the £65m man's presence should not make much of a difference on Saturday evening.

Against Villa, the Gunners finally posted the emphatic scoreline that their performances suggested was on the cards, and Arteta's side should expose an Adams-less Bournemouth to begin 2026 with a bang.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.