Arsenal – Bournemouth: Arsenal’s Accursed April Continues (1-2)

The weight of history is hanging over Arsenal. Dumped out of two cups in a fortnight, they are not rising to the occasion of the run-in. But as another defeat marked a typically miserable month for Mikel Arteta, the biggest bottle job of all is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

Arsenal are onto their next challenge in the run-in. The hurt from successive defeats in domestic cups against Manchester City and Southampton still looms large, and the team only narrowly escaped with a 1-0 triumph against Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie. Now is the time for grit, but the group has been grinding out results for large stretches of the new year, and the question remains about whether Mikel Arteta can push his players to haul themselves over the line.

Their first Premier League opponents in this final phase of the season were Bournemouth, who did the double over the North London outfit last season. Since then, the squad has suffered the loss of four members of their starting back five as well as top scorer Antoine Semenyo, sold in the winter window. However, Andoni Iraola has inspired a record-equaling 11 game winning streak . . .