Arsenal will be aiming to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points when they travel to Vitality Stadium to face AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Gunners have won four Premier League games in a row, and they completed their revenge this week by beating Aston Villa 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
The north London club have recorded 14 wins this season already, and are four points ahead of Manchester City, both having played 19 games.
Ahead of the match, the Gunners have received a big fitness boost as Declan Rice has reportedly travelled with the playing squad.
The England midfielder picked up a knee injury against Bright & Hove Albion and missed the previous game.
Arsenal receive Rice fitness boost
Mikel Arteta revealed yesterday that Rice has not trained fully and will make the final decision after closely assessing the midfielder's fitness.
“We have another session today, let’s see how he comes today and how that’s feeling, but [the Villa game] was too early for him,” Arteta said, as quoted by the club's official website.
“Sometimes you get a hit and, throughout the game, you are able, with adrenaline and because you are warm, able to sustain that, and then the body reacts. It reacted probably more than we expected, unfortunately, and that’s where we are.”
However, according to a report from The Sun, Rice has travelled to the South Coast and joined the squad on a walk this morning.
It will be interesting to see whether the former West Ham midfielder is fit enough to start the game, as Arteta has plenty of other options and will not risk him unnecessarily.
Arsenal trio still miss out
© Imago / Sports Press Photo
The Gunners will be without the trio of Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman for this game; all are currently out injured.
Myles Lewis-Skelly is set to start in the absence of Calafiori once again, while Gabriel Magalhaes has returned to the first-team again at centre-back after a long injury lay-off.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have just returned to the first team after a long absence, with the latter likely to get the nod ahead of Viktor Gyokeres.