Bournemouth boss Scott Parker has heaped huge praise on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal ahead of their visit to the Vitality Stadium this weekend.

Arsenal are set to play against Bournemouth this weekend, in their third match of the Premier League campaign.

Along with Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are the only team to win both of their opening two Premier League fixtures this season. The pressure is now on to keep that run going for as long as possible.

Bournemouth manager Scott Parker certainly views Saturday’s visitors as a serious threat to his side.

“I seriously see them as a team that are going to be right up there this year,” Parker said.

“What Mikel’s done in a short space of time at Arsenal and how that improvement’s happened.

“Last year narrowly missing out on fourth, and the progression that they’ve made in terms of the signings this year has only enhanced and improved them even more.

“Another year under Mikel as well can only be beneficial. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us at the weekend, a technical team, a positional team, that have huge quality all over the pitch.”

It’s always good to hear kind words about your team in the build-up to a match, though it’s harder to know whether they’re sincere.

There’s certainly a feeling at Arsenal that there’s good reason to be excited at the moment, and you hope that translates into fearful opponents on matchdays.

But Bournemouth will adjust their gameplan accordingly, looking to frustrate Arsenal as much as possible, so an early goal could be key.