Partey decision made as ‘incredible’ Arsenal teammate rested for PSG and £50m man starts: Gunners predicted XI v Cherries

Arsenal will look to cement their hold on second place in the Premier League when they take on Bournemouth on Saturday evening.

Although the Gunners can no longer win the Premier League title this season, they will be mindful of the teams snapping at their heels for second place.

Arsenal are up against a Bournemouth side currently 10th in the table but still in with a slim chance of qualifying for Europe.

TBR Football looks at who Mikel Arteta could name in the Arsenal starting XI for the 5:30pm kick-off at the Emirates Stadium.

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Arsenal team news v Bournemouth

Arsenal will be without Jorginho and Riccardo Calafiori for the Bournemouth game.

The two players are progressing in their respective recoveries from injuries, but Arteta has confirmed they will not feature this weekend.

Calafiori has been sidelined since March with a knee problem, while Jorginho has been absent with a rib injury.

Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kai Havertz remain sidelined while Neto is ineligible against his parent club.

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Arsenal tipped to start Thomas Partey against Bournemouth while Martin Odegaard rested

Arteta needs to strike a balance between resting key players for PSG and avoiding a morale-sapping loss to a Bournemouth side featuring plenty of dangerous players.

In addition, Arsenal cannot afford to be dragged in a top-five battle and risk their Champions League spot via league position.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	34	25	7	2	80	32	48	82
2	ArsenalArsenal	34	18	13	3	63	29	34	67
3	NewcastleNewcastle	34	19	5	10	65	44	21	62
4	Man CityManchester City	34	18	7	9	66	43	23	61
5	ChelseaChelsea	34	17	9	8	59	40	19	60
6	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	34	18	6	10	53	41	12	60
7	Aston VillaAston Villa	34	16	9	9	54	49	5	57
8	FulhamFulham	34	14	9	11	50	46	4	51
9	BrightonBrighton	34	13	12	9	56	55	1	51
10	B’mouthBournemouth	34	13	11	10	53	41	12	50

With that in mind, Arteta is likely to make some changes, but also keep some of his big guns in the XI.

There are some big players who will likely start out of necessity. David Raya, for instance, should remain in goal as Neto is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Likewise, William Saliba and Jakub Kiwior are also likely to remain at centre-back due to injuries to other defenders.

However, Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly could make way for Ben White and Kieran Tierney at right-back and left-back respectively.

We predict Declan Rice will start, while Mikel Merino could be replaced by Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard could make way for Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Odegaard is an “incredible” player but he struggled against PSG in the first leg and could do with a rest ahead of the crunch clash in Paris.

We feel Arteta will make some changes up front, with Ethan Nwaneri and £50million man Raheem Sterling replacing Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka on the flanks.

Arsenal predicted starting XI v Bournemouth (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko; Rice, Partey, Zinchenko; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling

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