Bournemouth v Arsenal: Gunners have defensive worries and Cherries star could return

© John Walton/PA Wire

Arsenal will be without a quartet of defenders for their Premier League trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.

While Sokratis Papastathopoulos has recovered from an ankle injury to give Unai Emery more options at the back, Laurent Koscielny (Achilles), Konstantinos Mavropanos (groin), Nacho Monreal and Stephan Lichtsteiner (both hamstring) are all still missing.

Danny Welbeck (ankle) is a long-term absentee but Mohamed Elneny is fit again following a thigh complaint.

Provisional squad: Leno, Cech, Jenkinson, Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Papastathopoulos, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Xhaka, Torreira, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang.

Bournemouth striker Joshua King could return to contention.

King has missed the Cherries’ last four Premier League games due to an ankle injury and will be assessed by manager Eddie Howe.

Full-back Adam Smith is definitely out and faces a long spell on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury in the defeat at Newcastle before the international break.

Provisional squad: Begovic, Daniels, Ake, Francis, S Cook, L Cook, Lerma, Fraser, Ibe, Wilson, King, Brooks, Defoe, Gosling, Mousset, Pugh, Boruc, Surman.