Arsenal's season is showing no sign of faltering, and they will welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates on Saturday at 3pm.
The Gunners come into the weekend five points ahead of closest challengers Manchester City, who face Newcastle in the early kick-off.
Mikel Arteta will be confident that his team can maintain this lead (at the very least), facing a Bournemouth team who have the worst record in the league since the resumption of play after the World Cup.
The Cherries have only won one of their last five games, while Arsenal have won their last three in a row.
While Jorginho has proved an astute signing, Arsenal will likely welcome back Thomas Partey to the starting eleven, further strengthening the team. This will give the side more balance and defensive steel, crucially allowing Martin Odegaard more free rein in attacking positions.
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Arsenal's attacking waves
Bournemouth struggled against City's constant pressure and intricate passing moves last week; expect it to be no different against Arsenal. They have scored nine goals in their past three games, including four in midweek against Everton, who are one place above Bournemouth in the table in 18th.
The Gunners had 74% ball possession agains the Toffees, while having over 66% in the two games before that. Conversely, The Cherries have only managed around 30% in their last three.
Arsenal do not often struggle against low blocks, with the 'Guardiola-esque' role of Oleksandr Zinchenko inverting into midfield often providing that key extra man in attack, as it did twice in midweek. Arsenal will look to get in behind Bournemouth, utilising the extra man to allow more midfielders to flood the box.
The Gunners' other key attacking factor comes from their wingers. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are in fine form, with six goals between them over the last three games, and will likely be relied upon to provide the difference in attack, especially with the potential absence of Eddie Nketiah - in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said the Englishman has been carrying a knock recently.
All three goals - two from the Brazilian and one from Saka - came from central positions, illustrating Arteta's will to have the wingers roam freely in attacking positions, again helped by either the remaining full-back or a midfield player maintaining width on the other flank. An example of this was Vieira's goal on Wednesday - Arsenal's fourth of the match. Sometimes, football is simple: the more players you have in the box, the more likely you are to score.
Yet, while some may wax lyrical about the difference in Arsenal's attack this season, this does not do full justice to the turnaround in defence that Arteta has orchestrated.
While scoring the second most goals this season, the Gunners have also conceded the second least - highlighting the efficiency of their much changed backline.
The signing of Zinchenko was clearly the fulfilment of a long-term plan, while Ben White has been impressive despite often being played out of position.
Gabriel Magalhaes has made steady improvements since last season, no doubt helped by the return of William Saliba after his loan. These two have formed a formidable partnership in central defence, with Saliba's recovery pace always a useful tool in a team that plays one of the highest defensive lines in the league.
Conceding only ten shots on target and two goals over the last three games is indicative of a solid backline, but suggests that Bournemouth could have some luck in attack if they play to Arsenal's weaknesses.
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How could Bournemouth snatch the points?
Bournemouth will likely look to counter-attack for the majority of their chances, being unlikely to dominate possession.
Jefferson Lerma scored a well-taken goal in the loss against Man City, but the Cherries will take encouragement from Brentford's recent display at the Emirates, where counter-attacking provided several chances and they were unlucky not to come away with three points.
Unfortunately for Bournemouth, they do not possess players in the vein of Ivan Toney or Bryan Mbuemo, but they will likely look to counter in a similar way, perhaps trying to take advantage of the lack of pace that Arsenal's full-backs possess.
Dominic Solanke could play a similar role to Toney, looking to win the first header in any 50/50s, with Lerma, Hamed Traore and Dango Outtara providing the runs in behind.
This tactic could be helped by the wing-backs that were deployed in a 3-5-1 formation against Man City, with the potential for an overload during any counters. On paper, this is no doubt a more solid tactic in defence, hoping to block out any openings in the middle of the box.
While the Cherries often use four at the back against teams lower in the league, expect a five-man defence to try and negate the aforementioned influx of bodies when Arsenal attack.
If they do manage to nick the first goal, expect more of the same; Bournemouth will likely sit back deeper, looking to hit Solanke for the knock on or for the hold-up play.
