Bournemouth vs Arsenal preview: What time does it start, what TV channel is it on and where can I watch it?
A look ahead to the Premier League fixture at Dean Court
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Arsenal travel to the south coast to face Bournemouth for the second time this season, looking to jump back into third place in the Premier League.
Victory for Manchester City saw them jump ahead of Arsene Wenger’s side while United’s victory saw them close to within a point of the Gunners prior to kick off at the Vitality Stadium.
Follow live coverage on our blog below…
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It’s a big game for…
Alexis Sanchez: The tricky Chilean is Arsenal’s most influential player, and against an entertaining Bournemouth side, the Gunners will need him to be at his best. Since Arsenal’s 5-1 demolition of West Ham at the beginning of the month, Sanchez has only netted a solitary goal, in a 2-1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park.
Best stat…
0: Bournemouth have faced Arsenal four times in their history and have failed to pick up a win, losing all four.
Remember when…
Arsenal have already faced Bournemouth this season as the Gunners recorded a 3-1 home victory. Sanchez capitalised on a defensive mistake to put them 1-0 up before Callum Wilson netted a penalty to level the terms. Second half goals from Theo Walcott and Sanchez sealed the win for the hosts.
Player to watch…
Benik Afobe: The former Wolves striker is a live wire in the box and Arsenal’s centre-backs will have to frustrate himto keep him quiet. Afobe has bagged two goals in his last five Premier League games, one being last time out in the 3-0 win away at Swansea, and the 23-year-old will want to build on that here against Arsenal.
Past three meetings…
Arsenal 3 (Sanchez 2, Walcott) Bournemouth 1 (Wilson), Premier League, November 2016
Bournemouth 0 Arsenal 2 (Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain), Premier League, February 2016]
Arsenal 2 (Gabriel, Ozil) Bournemouth 0, Premier League, December 2015
Form guide…
BOURNEMOUTH: WLWLLW
ARSENAL: WWLLWW
Vital information…
KICK-OFF: 19:45, Tuesday 3rd January 2017
TV: Sky Sports 1
Odds…
BOURNEMOUTH TO WIN: 15/4
ARSENAL TO WIN: 5/6
DRAW: 29/10
(Odds provided by Betfair)
Hello and welcome The Independent’s live coverage of Arsenal’s trip to the south coast to face Bournemouth.
The Gunners, fresh off from Olivier Giroud scoring the goal of the season so far, won the reverse fixture at the Emirates 3-1 in November and will be hoping to repeat that and leapfrog Manchester City back into third in the Premier League.
As well as the coverage from the Vitality Stadium, Crystal Palace face struggling Swansea at Selhurst Park, with the Welsh club’s new manager Paul Clement watching in the stands.
And the final match of the evening sees Stoke City take on Watford at the Bet365 Stadium.
Mesut Ozil missed Arsenal's home match with Crystal Palace on New Year's Day, and he remains a doubt for this evening's trip to the south coast. Here are three reasons why Gooners everywhere will be hoping he's fit come 7.45pm.
After three matches in eight days, changes aplenty are expected in both dressing rooms this evening. One player who will definitely be missing from the Bournemouth ranks, however, is Jack Wilshere; the on-loan Arsenal midfielder is ineligible to face his parent club.
The official team news from Dean Court is imminent.
Here's how they line up at Dean Court...
...and both sides make three changes to the teams that registered wins in the hours either side of the New Year bells.
We already knew that Eddie Howe was without the services of Jack Wilshere but he's also missing the services of another Arsenal man in Benik Afobe. Meanwhile, Andrew Surman drops to the bench as Dan Gosling, Josh King and Callum Wilson come into the Cherries first XI.
Arsene Wenger shuffles his pack by bringing the recently injured Shkodran Mustafi into his defence and both Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey into his midfield. It means Gabriel and Lucas Perez are among the substitutes, but Mohamed Elneny misses out altogether. Meanwhile, the Arsenal boss names an impressive three double-barrelled surnames on his bench.
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook, Ake, Daniels, Arter, Gosling, Stanislas, Fraser, King, Wilson
Subs: Federici, Mings, A. Smith, B. Smith, Surman, Ibe, Mousset
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Sanchez, Giroud
Subs: Ospina, Maitland-Niles, Gabriel, Holding, Reine-Adelaide, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Perez
Referee: Michael Oliver
Arsenal will move back into third position, a point behind Liverpool in second, with a win this evening. Recent history suggests they should get it.
There's more Premier League teams news hitting the wires...
Crystal Palace v Swansea – 8pm
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Kelly, Delaney, Tomkins, Ward, Ledley, Cabaye, Puncheon, Townsend, Zaha, Benteke
Subs: Speroni, Flamini, Phillips, Mutch, Lee, Sako, Campbell
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Taylor, Cork, Fulton, Ki, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Llorente
Subs: Nordfeldt, Rangel, van der Hoorn, Fer, Barrow, Dyer, Borja
Referee: Paul Tierney
Stoke v Watford – 8pm
Stoke: Grant, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Diouf, Allen, Adam, Pieters, Arnautovic, Crouch, Walters
Subs: Given, Bardsley, Whelan, Afellay, Imbula, Shaqiri, Bojan
Watford: Gomes, Kaboul, Prodl, Kabasele, Britos, Doucoure, Guedioura, Behrami, Capoue, Holebas, Deeney
Subs: Pantilimon, Cathcart, Sinclair, Ighalo, Mason, Folivi, Eleftheriou
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Impressive stuff.
I've seen Lee Cattermole top that in a ten-minute cameo.
Laurent Koscielny has vowed not to let Callum Wilson out of his sight tonight.
Eddie Howe has spoken about the beauty of Bournemouth under the lights and with good reason. The Cherries have won 16 of their 24 points at home this season including victories over Liverpool, Everton and champions Leicester City.
Arsenal's North London neighbours Tottenham were unable to find the target on their trip here in October and so an away win is by no means guaranteed tonight. Arsene Wenger's team will have to the home side's work ethic if they are to avoid falling to a third straight defeat on the road. It's almost time to find out if they will.
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