Arsenal face AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday, just a few days after their 2-0 win over Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.
Unai Emery’s side moved up into the top four with a victory on Sunday, whilst Manchester United dropped points to Liverpool and Chelsea took the weekend off to lose the League Cup final.
The Gunners have matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United coming up, so it’s crucial they get a win over Bournemouth in preparation for those two final big-six games of the campaign. There’s no point resting players just to drop points in all three games, Emery has to go strong and win on Wednesday.
Let’s have a look at our predicted Arsenal lineup for the clash…
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As predicted over the weekend, Unai Emery gave a start to Alexandre Lacazette, after the Frenchman’s Europa League suspension was announced. It makes sense for the head coach to rotate between them after that decision.
The duo can’t play together in the last-16, so Emery may as well give the team time to settle into a single-striker system they can use in that tie. Presumably, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will start against Bournemouth, followed by Lacazette against Tottenham, Aubameyang against Rennes, and so on.
That doesn’t mean the alternate striker can’t come off the bench to help out later in the game, as against Southampton.
Alex Iwobi picked up a knock against The Saints, so this is likely Denis Suarez’s time to get his first start. On the other side, Henrikh Mkhitaryan will have to keep his place after a goal and an assist on Sunday.