Arsenal vs Bournemouth Prediction: Cherries to get in the goals against Gunners

Arsenal start their pre-season tour of the USA with a game against AFC Bournemouth at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California on Thursday (03:30 BST). The Gunners are already well-established stateside, but the Cherries are looking to make further inroads there after being taken over by Bill Foley in 2022, with Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan also listed as an investor and part-owner.

Read below for my Arsenal vs Bournemouth prediction ahead of this pre-season friendly at the home of MLS side the LA Galaxy.

Football Odds

Team News

A whole host of stars were left out of the Arsenal squad that travelled stateside last week, including Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and William Saliba, while Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes will join up after Thursday's match.

With Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya both absent, Arsenal's most senior goalkeeper will be 22-year-old Karl Hein.

Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Jurrien Timber are the Gunners' only senior defenders, but there is more experience in midfield with the likes of Martin Odegaard, Jorginho and Fabio Vieira to name a few.

Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah headline the forward names, but the latter two have been heavily linked with moves away in this transfer window.

Bournemouth kicked off their tour of the USA with a 1-1 draw against AFC Wrexham on Sunday, naming a few youngsters and fringe players in their starting XI before introducing a few more stars in the second half.

Daniel Jebbison made his Bournemouth bow after joining from Sheffield United last month, and the 21-year-old was joined in the starting line-up by Alex Scott and Antoine Semenyo, both of whom made a big impression in the Premier League last season.

Milos Kerkez, Dominic Solanke and Marcos Senesi all appeared as substitutes, with the latter scoring his side's equaliser against the Welsh club.

However, four players definitely won't be featuring against the Gunners. Tyler Adams is out until September at the earliest after undergoing back surgery following his involvement at Copa America, while Enes Unal has been marked unavailable for Thursday's game due to a foot injury.

Meanwhile, new goalkeeper signing Alex Paulsen is in Paris representing New Zealand at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and Luis Sinisterra will be a late pre-season arrival after helping his country to the 2024 Copa America final earlier this month.

Arsenal vs Bournemouth Odds

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Arsenal are 4/5 to start pre-season in style with a victory, giving them an implied win probability of 55.6%, while Bournemouth can be backed at 5/2, or a 28.6% chance, to record their first friendly success this year.

The draw is available at 11/4, both teams to score at 2/5, and over 3.5 total goals at 1/1.

Both teams to score in first half - Yes @ 9/4

Manchester City's Florida Cup match with Celtic on Wednesday was an early example of just how frenetic these pre-season friendlies can be.

Four goals were scored in the first half of that game in Chapel Hill as Celtic took a 3-1 lead into half-time, and Thursday's head-to-head between Arsenal and Bournemouth pairs another two teams who love to score attack, which should lend itself to an entertaining encounter in Carson.

Bournemouth could hand starts to Solanke and Semenyo, who struck 19 and eight times respectively in the Premier League last season, and the Cherries duo will fancy their chances of scoring early on with neither Raya nor Ramsdale in the Gunners' goal.

However, Arsenal aren't exactly lacking firepower themselves, despite leaving Saka out of the squad. Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus have had the summer off after not appearing at international tournaments for varying reasons, meaning they have been in training from the off, and should be raring to go on Thursday.

Bournemouth to score in both halves  @ 12/5

Bournemouth only kicked off their pre-season campaign last weekend but you'd imagine playing just once already gives them a slight advantage in the fitness department, with most of their players getting at least 25 minutes in the tank against Wrexham, and some even being given the best part of an hour.

I'm expecting them to name a stronger starting XI this time around, but the strength of their squad is such that even their second-half side should create plenty of problems for the Gunners, who are likely to play more youngsters due to the amount of first-team stars they have missing.

Therefore, I'm backing Bournemouth to take advantage of their experience in the second half and add to their first-half total.

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