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By Tony Attwood
Well, if you have been paying attention and enjoy just a little bit of statistical whatnot, you might have noticed what the last six games league table looks like of late… But in case not, I will offer you but three lines
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 14 |
| 11 | Bournemouth | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 |
| 20 | Tottenham | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 |
So yes, we are the best club over the last six league games, while Bournemouth sit mid-table, and right down there at the foot is some other club.
Bournemouth are, in fact, the draw champions this season, having not just drawn five of their last six games but also more draws across the whole season (15) than any other club in the league. Indeed, in the table based on draws, in second place we find Leeds on 12 draws, while in third there are Manchester United, Brighton and Sunderland each on ten. Arsenal are on seven.
So, playing the league leaders away, we might expect Bournemouth to play for a draw, but in light of the midweek experience, we can also expect Arsenal to try a multiplicity of different methods to break through right up to the last second.
Looking at the whole season, we can also note that Arsenal really have performed way ahead of Bournemouth on every metric, winning over twice as many games, scoring 15 more and conceding 26 fewer, hence the 28 better goal difference.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 31 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 61 | 22 | 39 | 70 |
| 13 | AFC Bournemouth | 31 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 46 | 48 | -2 | 42 |
Bournemouth’s best finish in the Premier League was ninth, which they have reached on two occasions: 2017 and last season, so they will harbour thoughts of maybe getting above that position this time, especially as they are only two points behind Fulham, who currently occupy ninth place.
The club are of course, hampered by having the smallest ground (and hence the lowest income) in the Premier League, but they are working on taking the current capacity of just over 11,000 up to 20,000. But in the meanwhile this ground size does of course keep their income levels down, and to my mind, their survival in the top division has been quite remarkable. Not least given the club’s long history in the lower leagues.
The two clubs have met just 17 times in the league, with Arsenal winning 12, two being drawn and Bournemouth winning three times. Arsenal have scored 40 goals against Bournemouth (thus averaging over two a game) but conceded just 17 (obviously one a game).
Meanwhile, this weekend Manchester City are away to Chelsea, and unfortunately Chelsea’s home record is only modest (six wins, five draws, four defeats), but if they were to pull themselves together just this once, that could of course, do Arsenal no harm at all. And since Arsenal beat Bournemouth away this season, hopes at least of our ability to win must remain high.
Except that, as we all know, complacency will never do since in 2024 Bournemouth did beat Arsenal 2-0 at their ground, while on 3 May 2025 Bournemouth won at Arsenal 1-2.
The excuse for that defeat was that it came in between two matches against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Arsenal had lost at home to PSG 0-1, then lost at home to Bournemouth 1-2 and completed the run by losing away to PSG by the same score. But fortunately, such events don’t happen very often.
Bournemouth, as we can see from the details near the top of the page, are in the habit of drawing, and seeing Arsenal’s position in the league will probably be hoping to “keep it tight” and “play for the draw,” although that, of course, can never be admitted even by the away team against the league leaders.
But five draws in the last six games tell a story. And as defeats to smaller clubs are never something to celebrate, the fact that Bournemouth did beat Arsenal in successive games in 2024 and 2025 will mean that Arsenal have no chance of taking this too easily.
The game after this one is Sporting at home on 15th April, and then after that is what the media will delight in calling THE BIG ONE by which they will imply, the one that Arsenal will have no chance of winning. But we shall perhaps leave that for a later date.
For now let us focus on Bournemouth at home, having beaten them 2-3 away back in January.
