After the second international break of the season, Arsenal return to Premier League action this weekend with a trip to the south coast to take on Bournemouth. With Manchester City and Liverpool both in action on Sunday, a win for the Gunners would take them top of the Premier League, albeit it may only be for a few hours.
Bukayo Saka limped off with an injury for England over the international break, but the Englishman should be fine to feature for Mikel Arteta's side later today. The Cherries failed to trouble Arsenal in both meetings last season, with the Gunners winning 4-0 away from home before picking up a 3-0 win in north London.
So, can Arsenal return to Premier League action with a big three points? Let's take a look.
We simulated Bournemouth vs Arsenal to get a score prediction
To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 25 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that the Cherries could line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their starting XI as follows: Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Semenyo, Kluivert, Outtara; Evanilson.
We predict that Arsenal could set up in a 4-4-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Saka, Havertz, Partey, Rice, Sterling; Havertz, Trossard.
Arsenal started strongly on the south coast, and they should've been a goal ahead after four minutes, but Kai Havertz could only direct Bukayo Saka's deep cross wide of the post from six yards out. The German more than made up for his miss moments later though, with the striker latching onto Raheem Sterling's through ball before rounding the 'keeper and slotting home.
Arsenal were in full control at the Vitality, but a moment of madness allowed the hosts back into the game. William Saliba's pass to Declan Rice was intercepted on the halfway line by Evanlison, and the Brazilian's audacious effort from 40 yards out looped over David Raya and into the net. Arsenal saw the majority of the ball in the second half with no end product, but their patience paid off when they found the winner in the 92nd minute.
Rice's driven pass into Havertz was smartly flicked into the path of Saka on the right, and the winger cut inside past his marker before firing towards goal. Saka opted to drill his shot low and hard towards the near post, but a wicked deflection off the defender saw the ball ricochet the other way and into the corner to hand the Gunners three points late on.
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