Arsenal vs Wolves preview, team news, tickets, line-up and prediction

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Arsenal will be looking to cement their place at the top of the Premier League table with a win over Wolves at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.

The Gunners will return to domestic action this weekend after securing their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Arsenal only needed a draw against Lens at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night to guarantee safe passage to the next phase of the competition. However, they did it in style after thrashing Lens 6-0 to not only book our place in the last-16, but also secured top spot in Group B to ensure to progress as group winners.

The first half was arguably the best we’ve seen from Arsenal this season. Lens are usually well organised and tough to beat – as they showed with their shock 2-1 win in the reverse fixture in France. However, we blew the Ligue 1 outfit away in emphatic style with some scintillating football during the opening 45 minutes. Goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard sealed the three points before half-time. Understandably, we took our foot off the gas in the second half but Jorginho scored a penalty late on to add a sixth goal and secure our biggest win of the season.

Arsenal can now look forward to playing Champions League football next year and Mikel Arteta can rest some key players for the final group game away to PSV in a couple of weeks time. However, for now, thoughts must turn to Premier League action as we look to cement our place at the top of the table with a win over Wolves.

Arsenal climbed to the summit thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Brentford last weekend. Havertz was the hero as he came off the bench to score a late winner with a fine header from a Saka cross. With Manchester City and Liverpool playing out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the day, Arsenal took their opportunity to go top of the Premier League table after 13 games.

We can now tighten our grip by beating Wolves at 3pm on Saturday and put the pressure on our rivals – who all play on Sunday. Liverpool host Fulham, Aston Villa travel to Bournemouth while City entertain Tottenham, so it’s vital Arsenal get the job done against Wolves and hope our rivals slip-up the following day.

Wolves head to the capital after an inconsistent start to the season. They lost to Fulham last weekend and have also dropped points against the likes of Sheffield United, Luton, Brighton and Crystal Palace this campaign. However, they have drawn with Villa and Newcastle, and beaten both Man City and Tottenham, so they seem to be saving their best form for matches against the big guns. Therefore, Arsenal shouldn’t take this game too lightly as Wolves can be a dangerous side on their day.

Tickets

Arsenal tickets are always difficult to come by and this match will be no different. With the club sitting top of the table, fans are desperate to see Arteta’s team in action so we expect this game to be officially ‘sold out’.

However, supporters could always try and buy Arsenal vs Wolves tickets at trusted reseller sites such as seatsnet.com.

Team news

Arsenal have welcomed Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard back into the team lately. Jesus has recovered from a hamstring injury and looked back to his best with an excellent performance against Lens, so he should be feature this weekend. Odegaard was also in terrific form in midweek and came through 90 minutes unscathed.

Arteta didn’t report any fresh injury concerns following the win over Lens on Wednesday night. However, we’ll still be without at least four players this weekend.

Fabio Vieira became the latest player to be ruled out after he underwent groin surgery last week. The midfielder is expected to be out for a number of weeks so might not play again until early 2024.

Thomas Partey is still recovering from a thigh injury that he sustained last month. The Ghanaian international is no closer to making his return to training so could be facing a race against time to get fit for the busy festive period in December.

Emile Smith Rowe is another long-term absentee for Arsenal as he’s still working his way back from a knee injury that he picked up in training. Jurrien Timber is still months away from being back from a serious ACL injury so obviously he won’t be available either to face Wolves this weekend.

As for the visitors, they’ll be without Joe Hodge due to a shoulder injury while Pedro Neto is also a major doubt with a thigh problem. Rayan Ait Nouri is being assessed on an ankle injury but Craig Dawson returns from suspension.

Likely line-up

Arteta is unlikely to tinker too much from the side that thrashed Lens. The one big change I think we’ll see is Ben White being recalled to start alongside William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in defence. Arteta may opt to move Takehiro Tomiyasu to left-back to help cope with a physical Wolves side. That would mean Oleksandr Zinchenko missing out, which Arteta doesn’t like to do at home so it will be interesting to see what the boss decides.

Havertz is expected to keep his place after scoring his second goal in two games on Wednesday night. It’s difficult to imagine any of the front four being dropped after their displays in midweek. Arteta may want to give someone a rest, in which case Leandro Trossard could be in-line for a recall after being given the entire night off against Lens.

With Luton Town away up next after this game, Arteta may be tempted to freshen things up at home to Wolves, but I think he’ll stick with the majority of his best team.

Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Rice, Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus

Prediction

Arsenal were in formidable form in midweek but Lens came to play football and didn’t sit with 10 men behind the ball, which played into Arsenal’s hands. Wolves won’t make that same mistake and it should therefore be a much tighter game.

The visitors have shown this season they can cause shocks against the bigger clubs and they’ve got some decent results against Arsenal in recent years, so we can’t take this too lightly. However, if Arsenal play with the same energy and flair in attack as they did against Lens, we should have too much quality for Wolves. Arsenal 2-0 Wolves

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