Unai Emery explained his decision to drop Mesut Ozil from his starting line-up by saying he needed a side that could cope with Bournemouth’s “physicality and intensity”.

It was the first time that Ozil had started a Premier League game on the bench this season, and the German was not called upon as his team-mates extended their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions.

Arsenal have now won four away games this campaign, as many as they won in the entirety of last season, and Emery said his team selections were made because he knew this trip to the Vitality Stadium would be “very demanding”.

Asked why he had dropped Ozil, the club’s highest-earner, Emery said: “We thought how we can be better in the match today, a very demanding match with physicality and intensity. But every player is important.

“Also today we tried with three centre-backs, like in some moments this season, we worked today and it is another possibility to improve or find our best performance in the squad.”