On the verge of equalling their best Premier League winning run of the 2025-26 campaign, Arsenal welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates Stadium for Saturday's lunchtime kickoff.
The Gunners have prevailed in each of their last four top-flight encounters, while the Cherries have played out five successive draws in the division to establish a reputation as stalemate specialists.
Amid the domestic cup disappointment and Champions League celebrations, it has been easy to turn a blind eye to Arsenal's position in the Premier League, where Mikel Arteta's men have won four games on the spin to breach the 70-point barrier.
Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton have all fallen to the Gunners' superiority in that run - the latter falling victim to Viktor Gyokeres's tap-in and Max Dowman's historic goal - allowing Arsenal to steer a whopping nine points clear of Manchester City, albeit having still played one game more.
Saturday's early kickoff will bring an end to nearly a month without a Premier League fixture for Arsenal, who have already won five straight Premier League games on two separate occasions this season, and only in 2013-14 and 2022-23 have they had three different streaks of 5+ Premier League victories in one campaign.
While neither the EFL Cup or FA Cup will be glistening in Arsenal's trophy case this summer, Arteta's men have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals thanks to Tuesday's gritty 1-0 first-leg win over Sporting Lisbon, whom they host again at the Emirates next Wednesday.
Before thoughts turn to a likely UCL semi with Atletico Madrid, Arsenal chase an eighth consecutive home victory across all competitions; from their seven straight successes at the Emirates, six have also seen Arteta's men score at least twice.
Basque meets Basque in Saturday's 12.30pm kickoff, where Arteta's opposite number Andoni Iraola endeavours to write a new chapter of Bournemouth history, by overseeing the Cherries' longest-ever Premier League unbeaten run.
The visitors have miraculously avoided defeat in each of their last 11 top-flight contests - never before have they gone 12 without losing in the Premier League - but seven of those clashes have ended all square, including each of their last five.
Bournemouth shared the spoils with all of West Ham United, Sunderland, Brentford, Burnley and Manchester United before the international break, results that have neither significantly harmed nor helped the 13th-placed Cherries' fleeting European chances.
A four-point gap to seventh-placed Brentford is far from insurmountable for Iraola's side, who have managed to avoid defeat on each of their last five Premier League away days, albeit while playing out back-to-back 0-0 draws in their most recent two road trips.
The Cherries have got the better of Arsenal twice since the start of last season - including a shock 2-1 Emirates victory just under a year ago, their first-ever win away to the Gunners - but Arteta masterminded a thrilling 3-2 Vitality Stadium success in January, when Declan Rice popped up with a decisive double.
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Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard all battled back from knocks to play a part in the victory over Sporting, but the latter and Martin Odegaard picked up fresh issues that will need assessing before the weekend.
Mikel Merino (foot) is definitely out of contention for the hosts, while there are also no guarantees over the availability of Riccardo Calafiori (unspecified), Bukayo Saka (unspecified) or Jurrien Timber (groin) either, but Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie have been pictured in training surprisingly early.
Odegaard and Trossard's blows may be small blessings in disguise, though, as Arteta can simply promote his two match-winning super subs from Tuesday night; Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz.
Bournemouth did not come out of the last international break entirely unscathed, as Eli Junior Kroupi withdrew from the France Under-21 setup, but the 19-year-old is expected to be available for the trip to the Emirates.
Boasting nine goals for the Premier League season, Kroupi could become the first teenager in 26 years to score 10+ times in his maiden Premier League campaign, after Robbie Keane for Coventry City in 1999-00.
Tyler Adams (unspecified) and Julio Soler (thigh) are also in line to make their comebacks, but Justin Kluivert (knee) and Lewis Cook (thigh) will not be back until next month at the earliest.
