Childhood friends will reunite on the Vitality Stadium touchline on Saturday evening, as Mikel Arteta's Arsenal square up to Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth in the Premier League.
The Gunners will leapfrog Manchester City and Liverpool into first place in the top-flight table with victory on the South Coast, which would also mark their 2,000th in the history of the English first division.
Meanwhile, a mediocre start to the 2024-25 season for Bournemouth sees them occupy 13th place in the fledgling rankings, and the Cherries suffered their third defeat in four games just before the international break with a 1-0 loss to Leicester City.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 16
Bournemouth wins: 1
Draws: 2
Arsenal wins: 13
Not until a 1987-88 EFL Cup showdown - which Arsenal won 3-0 before being beaten by Luton Town in the final - did the Gunners lock horns with Bournemouth, and the pair had to wait until 2015 for their maiden battle in the top flight after the Cherries' historic promotion.
As a result, the head-to-head history between Saturday's opponents is relatively modest - they have only crossed paths 16 times in competitive matches down the years, and Arsenal have come up trumps in 13 of them.
In contrast, Bournemouth only have a solitary success to their name against the three-time Premier League winners - a 2-1 home triumph in January 2018 - and another two contests have ended all square, one of which came on Boxing Day 2019 in Arteta's first game as Arsenal manager.
Since that 1-1 stalemate at the Vitality Stadium, the Gunners have conquered Bournemouth five times on the spin across all competitions, easing to a pair of triumphs over the Cherries in the 2023-24 Premier League season by an aggregate scoreline of 7-0.
A 4-0 Vitality Stadium slaughter preceded a 3-0 Emirates victory for Arteta's side in May 2024, although that was nothing in comparison to their battle in North London on March 4, 2023, where Philip Billing scored the second-quickest goal in Premier League history.
A Marcos Senesi header made Arsenal's uphill climb even steeper, but Thomas Partey and Ben White got the Gunners back on terms before Reiss Nelson's heroic 97th-minute winner, which triggered Emirates celebrations like none other.
That 3-2 spectacular was the second of four straight games in which Arsenal have scored at least three times against Bournemouth, who have also never kept a clean sheet in a competitive game against the North London giants.
Last 16 meetings
May 04, 2024: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Sep 30, 2023: Bournemouth 0-4 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 04, 2023: Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Aug 20, 2022: Bournemouth 0-3 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 27, 2020: Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal (FA Cup Fourth Round)
Dec 26, 2019: Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 06, 2019: Arsenal 1-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Feb 27, 2019: Arsenal 5-1 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Nov 25, 2018: Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 14, 2018: Bournemouth 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Sep 09, 2017: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Jan 03, 2017: Bournemouth 3-3 Arsenal (Premier League)
Nov 27, 2016: Arsenal 3-1 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Feb 07, 2016: Bournemouth 0-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Dec 28, 2015: Arsenal 2-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Oct 27, 1987: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (EFL Cup Third Round)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
May 04, 2024: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Sep 30, 2023: Bournemouth 0-4 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 04, 2023: Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Aug 20, 2022: Bournemouth 0-3 Arsenal (Premier League)
Dec 26, 2019: Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 06, 2019: Arsenal 1-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Feb 27, 2019: Arsenal 5-1 Bournemouth (Premier League)
Nov 25, 2018: Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jan 14, 2018: Bournemouth 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Sep 09, 2017: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth (Premier League)
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