Arsene Wenger Reveals Possible Reason for Arsenal's Bournemouth Slip Up

Arsene Wenger has suggested Arsenal's frenetic New Year fixture list as a reason for his side's struggles in drawing against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Arsenal went 3-0 down at Vitality Stadium on the English south coast midway through the second half, only to stage a thrilling recovery capped by a header from striker Olivier Giroud in the second minute of injury time.

In his post-match interviews, Wenger pointed to fatigue as a possible reason for Arsenal's poor first half display, which allowed Bournemouth to stretch into a two-goal lead through Charlie Daniels and a Callum Wilson penalty. Arsenal beat Crystal Palace on Sunday, while Bournemouth beat Swansea City on December 31.

"We had three or four players we had to play tonight that we had to wait until the warm-up to see if they could play," Wenger said.

"Hector Bellerin had a knock so he was uncertain to play, and that's the problem with only 48 hours [between fixtures]; you have to play some players again.

"Laurent Koscielny too, and we had Gabriel [Paulista] that we didn't start in the end. And then I didn't start Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain because I didn't take a gamble with him, because I didn't know who we'd have to take off.

"This complicates the job a lot, but we have to shut up and cope with it.

"Look, I'm ready to play tomorrow again as long as we play against an opponent who has played today as well. That is what I call fair.

"For the rest, we have to play when we are told to play. But we want to play against teams in the same time of rest and preparation as we have."

The draw left Arsenal eight points behind Premier League leader Chelsea, which plays another title rival in Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Wednesday evening.