Could Jack Wilshere be the missing link on November 27 when Bournemouth travel to Arsenal? The Arsenal midfielder is currently on loan at Bournemouth following a spell of injuries and poor form, but he’ll have to sit this game out under the rules governing players on a temporary contract.
Since moving to Bournemouth, Wilshere has played nine games and looks to be returning to the sort of form that saw him hailed as one of Arsenal’s next great hopes. In fact, with injuries now a distant memory and his link-up plays starting to find their mark, Wilshere recently received an England call-up from Gareth Southgate.
While it might be a little early to hail the “return” of the 24-year-old talent, he’s certainly looked comfortable in a Bournemouth shirt. Unfortunately, with the FA’s rules preventing him from playing, it looks as though Bournemouth will be up against it at the Emirates.
To date, Arsenal has faced Bournemouth three times and haven’t lost on any occasion. To heap more pressure on Eddie Howe, Arsenal has lost just once this season and currently sit fourth in the Premier League, while Bournemouth has lost five. In any other match, Howe would be looking to Wilshere for some inspiration in the middle of the park, but this Sunday he won’t have the luxury.
Fortunately, however, he does have Harry Arter. The feisty midfielder has been a powerhouse in the centre this season and often comes in with a crunch challenge when it really matters. According to the stats, Arter has won 25 tackles this season, which is the fifth-best total in the league so far this season.
With Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez often dropping deep from the frontline, a crunch battle between these two could define much of the match. If Arter can slow down Sanchez and prevent him from feeding into the likes of Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil, then it could stifle Arsenal’s attacks and give Bournemouth a chance to sneak a win.
However, even if Bournemouth can contain Sanchez, Arsenal are still a threat, and more importantly, the Cherries haven’t exactly been firing on all cylinders this season. With more conceded (16) than scored (14), Bournemouth is struggling for goals and that could be the deciding factor on Sunday.
The current betting line at Sun Bets has Arsenal as the 2/5 favourites and the visitors way out at 13/2. Although Ladbrokes and Paddy Power are both offering 4/1 on a draw, the market is clearly split between the two opposites of wins and losses. Of course, for a bit more value, Sun Bets will give you 8/1 on the familiar one nil to the Arsenal, but this game looks to have more goals in it.
Bournemouth is vulnerable at the back and Arsenal has netted 25 in 12. That would suggest we’re in for two or more goals from the Gunners, which makes 2-0 at 7/1 and 3-0 at 15/2 look highly attractive. For those that want to take advantage of a timely betting offer, Paddy Power is currently offering an instant payout if your team goes two goals up at any stage in the game.
Valid for all pre-match singles in the Win-Draw-Win market, this offer will see you paid out in full as a winner if your selection nets a two-goal lead. Given Arsenal’s current form and goals-per-game average just over the 2.0 mark, this looks like an offer that’s worth taking advantage of.
That deal aside, Arsenal certainly look like the clear favourites heading into this game and it could well be Wilshere’s absence that’s helped this fact. The Arsenal player might not be contributing to his team’s current run, but he may still end up earning three points when Bournemouth travel to London on Sunday.
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