Arsenal’s revenge mission this week has been a dish best served cold. After Unai Emery’s Aston Villa felt the force of the Premier League leaders in a 4-1 thrashing, this time it was Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth who were vanquished despite being presented with the opening goal by Gabriel Magalhães.
The Brazilian promptly equalised before Declan Rice capped his return from injury with two goals as Arsenal moved six points clear at the top, even if they had to survive a nervous last 16 minutes after substitute Eli Junior Kroupi pulled one back.
Mikel Arteta has promised that his players would learn from last season’s defeat here and a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in May when Liverpool had already been crowned champions. After a sloppy first half, it seemed they still had some way to go to heed the lessons of previous seasons. But they were so much sharper after the break, no doubt still hearing a few home truths from their manager ringing in their ears. With Rice in this kind of marauding form and a fifth straight league win in the bag, Arsenal will take some stopping in 2026.
Villa’s win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the day had seen their lead cut to three points. But the news that Rice had passed a late fitness test was a reason for Arteta to feel optimistic despite slumping to a 2-0 defeat here last season. Probably with Thursday’s meeting with Liverpool in mind, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard were on the bench as Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli came in.
