How Arsenal could line up against Bournemouth
Arsenal could be without as many as eight first-team players when Mikel Arteta‘s side travel to Bournemouth on Saturday.
The availability of key players including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka remains up in the air after the England duo picked up injuries in last weekend’s north London derby draw with Tottenham Hotspur, with centre-back William Saliba and midfielder Fabio Vieira both new doubts while wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard are yet to return to training.
Speaking to the media on Friday morning ahead of his team’s Premier League match at the Vitality Stadium, Arteta revealed Rice had not trained since being taken off with a back injury at half-time of the Spurs game.
Martinelli and Trossard, who both missed Sunday’s derby match entirely, have also still been absent from training this week, while Arteta noted Vieira’s lack of involvement in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Brentford and added that Saliba reportedly has a “knock”.
Asked when a judgement will be made on the match readiness of Saka, who he said is in the “same situation” is the rest of the Gunners’ absentees, Arteta said: “The assessment is ‘Okay, is he fit enough and good enough to be able to be selected tomorrow?’”
“That’s the question mark and so far he hasn’t trained with the team.”
Despite missing all of the aforementioned players – as well as long-term absentees Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey, who remain out – an early Reiss Nelson goal helped a much-changed Arsenal side edge past Brentford on Wednesday to set up a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against West Ham in a month’s time.
However, even if a winless Bournemouth side don’t pose the sternest test for the Gunners’ thinning squad on Saturday, Arteta will surely hope to see some of his absentees return for next week’s Champions League match against Lens and a Premier League showdown with title rivals Manchester City on 8 October.
How could Arsenal line up against Bournemouth?
With Partey out for at least the next few weeks and Rice seeming increasingly likely to be unavailable against this weekend, Arteta could turn to Jorginho in the middle of the park as he did for the second half against Spurs, with long-time squad member Mohamed Elneny another possible option in the holding midfield role.
As for the rest of the midfield, Arteta insisted post-match that his decision to hook Vieira alongside Rice on Sunday was a “tactical” one – but the Portuguese man will reportedly have to be assessed to see if he can play a role against Bournemouth.
If he is sidelined, Kai Havertz (his replacement against Spurs) will likely step in to a midfield trio alongside captain Martin Odegaard and the Arsenal boss’ defensive midfielder of choice.
Meanwhile, if Saka misses out, midweek goalscorer Nelson would appear to be the likeliest candidate for his right wing position.
Emile Smith Rowe could also start after impressing against Brentford, and is capable of playing in an attacking midfield role or in place of Martinelli or Trossard on the left wing.
Should Smith Rowe slot into midfield, and if Arteta elects not to repeat the experiment of starting both Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah (with the former out wide on the left) that proved ineffective in the draw against Spurs, there could even be a place in the line-up for 19-year-old winger Charles Sagoe Jr, who made his senior debut in the cup this week.
In the backline, the possible absence of Saliba could see versatile Polish defender Jakub Kiwior start alongside Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back unless Ben White moves in there with Takehiro Tomiyasu introduced at right-back.
Arsenal’s next five fixtures
- 30 September – Bournemouth (A) Premier League
- 3 October – Lens (A) Champions League group stage
- 8 October – Manchester City (H) Premier League
- 21 October – Chelsea (A) Premier League
- 24 October – Sevilla (A) Champions League group stage
It also remains anyone’s guess as to who will start in goal for the Gunners.
Aaron Ramsdale started the first five games of the season between the sticks before seeming to lose his spot to Brentford loanee David Raya, who started the next three as Arteta suggested he could even rotate his goalkeepers during matches. Ramsdale was then back in the starting line-up in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday.
Asked on Friday whether his starting keeper would have a surname beginning with the letter “R”, Arteta replied: “You are a genius! I have my answer for the rest of the season – thank you so much for your cooperation.”
