Pundit Frank McAvennie has lavished praise on one Arsenal player he says you "do not really notice" quietly doing an amazing job.
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Mikel Arteta's men go into their clash with Bournemouth having won four out of their first six league games, and are also in the Last 16 of the EFL Cup after a 1-0 win third round win over Brentford in midweek. Wins over Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Man United and Everton help to keep Arsenal in the mix at the Premier League's summit, but they haven't exactly been at their imperious best.
Three out of four of Arsenal's wins have been by narrow one-goal margins, with Arteta's men also dropping points at home to both Fulham and Tottenham recently. The Spurs game was unfortunate, as Arsenal took the lead twice only to be pegged back by captain Son Heung-min both times.
"We feel like we lost two points," said Arteta after the Spurs match. "It's true there was a lot of change in the dominance of the game, but especially when we had more control and more dominance in the game, and we score the goal, they score straight away. We started quite good, we scored the goal, but straight away we concede.
"So, emotionally, that was a difficult one to take. I thought we struggled for a period of 10 or 15 minutes later, we lacked a lot of composure with the ball and we made it a basketball game. But I think in the end we pushed, pushed and pushed, but couldn't get the win.
"The hardest thing to do is put the ball in the net. We've done it twice but I think we conceded two really poor goals. At this level, they're going to punish you because they've got top players."
Arsenal supporters will now be hoping their side can put in a statement performance by thrashing Bournemouth on the south coast.
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The north Londoners could be missing a host of players, a list including Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Fabio Vieira, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard.
Rice and Saka in particular will be sore, sore misses – with McAvennie explaining how the former has seriously impressed him. The former Celtic striker claims he's a player than can often go unnoticed due to the creative players around him, but he quietly goes about his job brilliantly.
“You do not really notice what he is doing at Arsenal because he has got all these wonderful players around him," said McAvennie to Football Insider. "He is doing his job but he is very good at it. I think there will be a few people missing by the time it rolls around.“
The 24-year-old signed from West Ham in the summer window for around £105 million, which is a club-record, and he has even managed his first goal in an Arsenal shirt this season. Rice could go on to become a pivotal player, and supporters will be hopeful he is available as soon as possible.
