Arsenal vs Bournemouth LIVE: Updates and analysis from Emirates Stadium

Hello and welcome to football.london for live coverage of Arsenal vs Bournemouth from the Emirates Stadium. The title race is entering its final throws and the benefit the Gunners have no is for the first time in quite some time is the chance of an entire week’s rest. Arsenal have been playing double game weeks for the past month but this time have much more recovery time. Arsenal could welcome back Jurrien Timber to the squad after he played in back-to-back Under-21s games to the excitement of the fan base. Meanwhile, Andoni Iraola’s side are without Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo through suspension and injury respectively. Arsenal won 4-0 on the south coast earlier in the campaign but the Cherries have come a long way since then and have been one of the form sides in the league. A win here for many is seen as the toughest challenge remaining for Mikel Arteta despite the trip to Old Trafford next week. You can follow all of the action from north London in our dedicated live blog below with Tom Canton and Kaya Kaynak. Updates to follow. 12:57Tom Canton This time Partey does hit the target at Travers pushes a shot out wide of the goal. Trossard tries to follow in as it is cleared for a corner. 12:54Tom Canton Arsenal are dominating the ball and in the last five have had 96% of the ball 12:52Tom Canton The ball is chipped in as Tomiyasu heads the ball down to Partey. He fires his strike far and high over the bar however. 12:51Tom Canton Trossard gets taken down twice as he runs through the Bournemouth midfield. The former Bristol City man picking up a booking. Good chance to chip the ball into the box here. 12:48Tom Canton William Saliba is suddenly inside the other box. Saka feeds the centre-half who cuts inside Senesi and strikes a left-footed effort right at the goalkeeper. Trossard follows up with a volley over the bar. Another save, this time from Saka who does get a better strike but it goes out for a corner after this stop. 12:47Tom Canton Gabriel trips over in a race with Solanke. The forward cuts inside Saliba who sticks out a boot and thankfully gets the ball. Lucky escape there. 12:46Tom Canton The crowd respects the tragic death of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin with a minute's applause on the 14th minute. 12:43Tom Canton Shot for Havertz. Ball in behind over the top for the German who spins and volleys at the Borunemouth keeper who punches away. Rice's follow up is blocked. 12:40Tom Canton Smacking the ground and not looking very comfortable at all. A collision between two players. He's back up but that was a nasty challenge by Christie. Lucky to escape any punishment. 12:39Tom Canton Still Arsenal come! Kai Havertz with a flick behind for White who crosses for the Belgian but again its blocked. 12:36Tom Canton Arsenal are building here and Odegaard and Trossard are buzzing. Both have chances blocked away and a corner will follow. 12:34Tom Canton Good work from the Gunners on both sides. Odegaard is absolutely everywhere already popping up right and left. The final ball however cannot open up a shooting opportunity and Bournemouth manage to wrestle back possession. 12:31Tom Canton Last season, AFC Bournemouth had the lead inside the opening seconds of the match. From the off the visitors have a free-kick on the bottom left corner which the Gunners head clear. Raya then looks to deliver a counter attack to Saka... 12:30Tom Canton 00 - Here we go! Arsenal kicking from left to right here at the Emirates. David Coote is the referee. Arsenal would love a repeat scoreline that saw them hit four past The Cherries last year but last season's fixture at the Emirates delivered a crazy five-goal firecracker. 3 points is all that matters. 12:18Tom Canton MK: "It's like pulling the curtains, isn't it? Pull them across the window and he can't see anything. And the keeper goes into panic mode. It's working beautifully; he doesn't really touch the ball but he plays a major part in these goals." JC: "The difference is, back in my day and Martin's day, if someone was doing a little bit too much of that they'd get someone going and standing on their foot or a little cheeky elbow, but you can't do that now. So you have to be smart with it. And the timing of his skulduggery is impeccable." 12:16Tom Canton The players have now headed inside which means we are incredibly close to kick-off now! Will Arsenal be bringing home three massive points before Manchester City play later today. Leandro Trossard of Arsenal warms up prior to the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 11:55Tom Canton Arsenal go into the final few weeks of the season knowing that the title race is out of their hands and that they are reliant on Manchester City to drop points in the remaining four games they have left to play. Pep Guardiola knows that wins over Wolves, Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham will win them the title. Meanwhile, the Gunners have just three games left and likely have to win all three to have any hope of lifting a title for the first time in twenty years. However, the final game of City’s campaign, at home to the Hammers, has been speculated about by some Arsenal fans as having an additional incentive for the visitors. As the season comes to a close, teams in mid-table have very little to fight for as European places become impossible to reach whilst the threat of relegation has been avoided. West Ham currently sit eighth in the table, four points off seventh which will become a UEFA Europa Conference League qualification spot. Read the full story here. Arsenal's Declan Rice deal failed to give West Ham any additional incentive to beat Manchester City on the final day (Image: Danehouse Photography Ltd/Getty Images) 11:45Tom Canton Arsenal are reliant upon some help should they wish to win the Premier League title with the points totals out of their hands. Winning their remaining three games might not be enough as City have four matches to pick up 12 points to defend their title for yet another season and deny the Gunners for a second successive campaign. City however have some tough fixtures remaining including a trip to Tottenham although Arsenal fans are hardly holding out much hope from their north London rivals. The clashes with West Ham on the final day and Wolves this coming weekend however offer something more encouraging. West Ham have secured 13 points from the ‘Big Six’ sides this season, although did lose to Manchester City in east London earlier in the campaign. Meanwhile, Wolves have taken 15 points from their ‘Big Six’ meetings including a surprise 2-1 win over Manchester City. Read the full story here. Gary O'Neil, Head Coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers has been given a touchline ban for Wolves' pivotal title clash with Manchester City in a blow to Arsenal's hopes of an upset (Image: Naomi Baker/Getty Images) 11:33Tom Canton Starting XI: Travers, Cook, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Christie, Smith, Scott, Ouattara, Semenyo, Kluivert, Solanke Subs: Neto, McKenna, Faivre, Hill, Unal, Billing, Aarons, Kinsey, Sadi 11:30Tom Canton Starting XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Trossard Subs: Ramsdale, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Fabio Vieira, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Jesus 11:13Tom Canton Arsenal have seen 16-year-old Chido Obi-Martin become one of the most talked about players at the club in recent weeks. The youngster has been playing for Jack Wilshere's Arsenal Under-18s and become a leading goalscorer, breaking records and making headlines. In his last seven Under-18s Premier League games he has scored in every single fixture. This on its own is impressive; however, the reality is that in those seven games, he has scored a total of 24 goals. In the most recent clash, when Arsenal took on Norwich City and won 9-0 away from home, Obi-Martin scored the first seven goals himself. His range of finishing is broad, scoring with either foot, from range and with some wonderful technical skill too. Read the full story here. Chido Obi-Martin has been sent a tempting offer as Arsenal exit will worry growing admirers (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 11:03Tom Canton Arsenal have a busy summer ahead as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his side ahead of another season where the club are aiming for a third successive title challenge. However, the reality that sporting director Edu Gaspar faces is one where the squad will need trimming before additions of a grander scale can be acquired. Despite question marks over depth, the club has in fact reached a stage where come the summer as many as eleven of their senior team could yet be moved on to make room for the players being linked in their droves. Arsenal have been eliminated early from multiple cup competitions and having players who offer competitive depth to established starters will be a priority. How players leave however remains a problem and at the end of the 2023 summer window, Arsenal found that plenty had yet to find the right pathway away and some simply left on loan, kicking the can down the road for another year. Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga are perhaps two such players although the latter’s impressive displays at Luton Town may have improved the Gunners' chances, the same cannot be said for the Portuguese full-back. Read the full list here. Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe are among eleven Arsenal players whose futures are somewhat uncertain (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 10:47Tom Canton A big boost for Arsenal as Pedro Neto is fit to face Manchester City. The Gunners however need to get the job done on their patch first. 10:35Tom Canton Mikel Arteta has received a huge Arsenal injury boost before the Premier League clash with Bournemouth. Jurrien Timber was the only noteworthy senior absentee from the squad named to face Tottenham last weekend with no fresh worries emerging from that North London Derby win. A victory against their bitter rivals saw Arsenal keep pace with Manchester City at the top of the table with just three games to play. Pep Guardiola's side have an extra game still to play with that arriving later this month at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In City's most recent outing, Erling Haaland returned from injury while Ederson was subbed off as a concern. For Arteta though, he is facing a very different injury situation with his pre-Bournemouth press conference revealing a dream scenario has become reality. With that said, football.london has taken a look at the latest Arsenal injury news before Saturday's visit of Bournemouth to Emirates Stadium. Read the full story here. Jurrien Timber could make his long-awaited Arsenal injury return against Bournemouth (Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)) 10:20Tom Canton Mikel Arteta still seems to be holding out hope that Arsenal can win the Premier League title. "In my heart and in my soul … this is what I am hoping for, yes," he said when asked if he thinks Manchester City will drop points before the end of the season. That will of course be immaterial if his Arsenal side can't win all their matches. Many people have Bournemouth down as a banker, but the Cherries would be fifth if the league had started in November. Arteta is not getting too cocky. "Bournemouth is even more important now we have momentum," the Spaniard said. "We have to keep going, and they [the players] know what is at stake." It's absolutely essential that Arteta gets his team selection spot on as a result. Here football.london takes a look at who he could pick for the match. Read the full story here. Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus are expected to start for Arsenal against Bournemouth. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) 10:05Tom Canton After last weekend's 3-2 win over Spurs, some people seem to have just assumed that Arsenal will win every one of their remaining games this season. It's far from a foregone conclusion though. If the season started in November, then Bournemouth would be fifth in the Premier League. It's not as easy as people are suggesting and Arsenal can't afford to drop a single point with Manchester City still favourites for the title race. As a results it's crucial that Mikel Arteta gets his team selection spot on. Thankfully football.london's Arsenal writers are on hand to help out. Here's who they would pick. Read the full story here. Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus are among the topics of conversation in our Arsenal reporters line ups against Bournemouth. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 09:46Tom Canton Mikel Arteta has admitted that Jurrien Timber could make his long-awaited return from injury when Arsenal take on Bournemouth in the Premier League this weekend. The Dutch international has been absent since injuring his anterior cruciate ligament on the opening day of the season against Nottingham Forest. After nearly nine months out though he has finally made his return to the pitch over the last few weeks. Timber played 45 minutes against Blackburn Under-21s last Monday and capped his return with a superb goal. This was followed up by a 70 minute outing against Liverpool Under-21s on Sunday. Read what Arteta had to say here. Jurrien Timber could make his return from injury for Arsenal against Bournemouth. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 09:35Tom Canton Arsenal have plans to invest heavily in the squad this summer with multiple positions taking up precedence for Mikel Arteta as he continues to overhaul the squad. Some have questions about why there remains a need to add even more players and replace some who only signed as recently as two years ago. Gabriel Jesus, for example, is one such player who could leave this summer with the club reportedly open to offers for the Brazilian. The same can be said for Oleksandr Zinchenko who has just two years remaining on his deal with little sign of a renewal on the horizon. Arsenal have needs in five areas in the summer: central midfield, winger, centre-forward, defence and goalkeeper. They are a result of expected departures but also the simple matter of the level exceeding their relevant contribution. Read the full story here. Mikel Arteta could sign as many as five major players this summer as Arsenal target more title chases (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) 09:22Tom Canton Read every word from Mikel Arteta's Arsenal press conference ahead of their clash with AFC Bournemouth with news on Jurrien Timber, his thoughts on the title race and the dramatic win over the Cherries last season. Catch up on it all here. Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta (Image: 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Plc) 08:54Tom Canton Very few Premier League clubs have the luxury of making big decisions on their summer transfer window spending before the current season has concluded. Manchester City have managed to offload fringe midfielder Tommy Doyle to Wolverhampton Wanderers this week but that is usually the scale of the business that can be done in May as the title run-in accelerates. However, due to an untimely injury, Arsenal can now make a decision on one of their proposed transfer targets - Pedro Neto. The Wolves star's unfortunate hamstring injury has kept him on the sidelines since March and it has now been confirmed that the 24-year-old has likely played his last minutes of the season. If that is the case, it is now time for Mikel Arteta to make his mind up on what he wants to do about pursuing the winger in the summer. Read the full story here. Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Pedro Neto (Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)