As he so often does, Arsene Wenger faces the future on Sunday when he comes up against Bournemouth. Arsenal's fixture lists in recent years have been pockmarked by meetings with men tipped to be his successor, whether it is Owen Coyle, Roberto Martinez or Jurgen Klopp. The Emirates Stadium faithful may be grateful that such predictions about the Scot and the Spaniard never came true and, though some may yearn for the German, he is contracted to Liverpool until 2022.
So Bournemouth's Eddie Howe has, without necessarily wanting to, assumed the mantle of the next Arsenal manager. Named the Football League's manager of the decade, he is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Arsenal's veteran of the past two decades.