ANDONI Iraola says his Cherries side must take their chances when they are presented to them against the top teams as they prepare to face Arsenal this evening.

Bournemouth will need to ‘recover’ the three points they dropped away at Leicester before the international break, Iraola said.

The Basque boss said they need to be found somewhere, with the next three games against Champions League opposition.

Ahead of Cherries’ clash with Liverpool in September, Iraola said his side needed to improve against the top three sides, but they were unable to mount a significant challenge against Arne Slot’s Reds.

Asked what needs to change for them to be able to go toe-to-toe with top class opposition, he said: “We have to be more clinical, because I remember having a lot of chances against Liverpool.

“To start strong, probably to score first, to put the game in a position where they can make mistakes, you can force them to take a position that can give you more chances.

(Image: Richard Crease) “It's always key to start a stronger game, to score first. But I would say against this opposition, it's almost mandatory.

“It's almost mandatory to take your first chances, to not make mistakes early in the games because you want to make the games long.

“You want to be in the games until the end. So, they can try to rush things and they can play not so, so comfortable, and this is key for me.”

Bournemouth face Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City in their next three games.

Asked what his message to the group ahead of such a tough run of fixtures is, Iraola said: “I think we have to give ourselves chances in every game.

“We cannot think okay, now we play these three Champions League teams, so let's pass these three weeks and then we start after our league and we fight for our points.

(Image: Richard Crease) “No, we have to try to [get points from these games], especially after the loss against Leicester, I think it's the loss that is, not that we didn’t expect, or we shouldn't have lost that game.

“We need to recover those points as soon as possible. And now the chances we have are Arsenal, Villa, City.

“So we have to take them. I don't know where, but somewhere. We have to find those points.”

Iraola is conscious that Arsenal are set to be challenging for all the trophies they are involved in this season, and believes they have improved over last term, where they missed out on the league by just two points.

“They are even better, they are super solid,” he said.

“They defend really well. Starting from the high press, that is very, very good, and they have a lot of dual winners.

“They have a physical team and we know it's going to be difficult for us, for everyone that faces Arsenal, but we have to try to look to our strengths.

“I think we can hurt them in some places and we have to trust our players.”