Triple Arsenal title boost ahead of Bournemouth as Mikel Arteta faces Bukayo Saka call

Despite Arsenal's injury woes Mikel Arteta is facing a triple benefit ahead of a key title challenge

Arsenal will see their Premier League title challenge resume this weekend as they make the trip to the south coast to face Bournemouth. The Cherries were on the end of a rout in last season’s clash but with Andoni Iraola having now recovered his side’s form, they will be a much sterner test.

That said, Arsenal are dealing with something of an injury crisis as Bukayo Saka was added to the growing list of Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Jurrien Timber and others. Mikel Arteta will be hoping not to have to deal with any further problems as his players complete their last international responsibilities.

Despite the relative frustration over the team’s status, there are reasons to be positive, in fact, there are threads which should give Arteta some boosts toward his hopes of the title. football.london rounds up three potential benefits of this week to the club’s ambitions in the league.

Top spot and pressure reward

Arsenal have the rare benefit of playing their game this weekend before title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool. Pep Guardiola has been very vocal on the rivalry developing between his side and the Gunners while Mikel Arteta has tried his best to temper the tension.

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While Arsenal play Bournemouth in the late Saturday afternoon kick-off, City wait until Sunday at 2pm to face Wolves at Molineux, whereas Arne Slot’s side host Chelsea at Anfield. Arsenal will go top should they beat the Cherries and pile the pressure on their rivals to respond on the day.

Enforced rotation

Mikel Arteta has been on the end of plenty of scrutiny regarding his rotation, or lack of it. Yet with so many players out, he will have to make some decisions in the squad and give minutes to some fringe members who thankfully have both quality and something to prove as motivation.

To be fair to the Spaniard, he did make changes in the last match, unforced, as he tried to give time to Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus – both of whom could be needed on Saturday afternoon with Saka and Martinelli somewhat doubts. The Arsenal staff will make their assessments while Arteta’s Friday press conference might provide some clarity on their situations.

One break left

With the completion of the October international break, this means that there is just one more remaining this year. Seven games will now be played across three competitions by Arsenal to determine their standings come November 10th.

Once this is done, the next break is not until the middle of March, giving the Gunners four months of uninterrupted domestic action. What could change between now and next month’s distraction and then during the aforementioned four-month string of fixtures will determine the outcome of what the club is fighting for.

It certainly will give the club more focus and far less clasped hands praying for their players to come back safely from their international duties. Which so far, has sadly not gone too well whatsoever.

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