With only six Premier League matches remaining, Arsenal needs to put their title challenge back on track with a win at Wolves. The Gunners have endured a distressing week, relinquishing top spot to Manchester City, and suffering a demoralizing Champions League exit in Munich.
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Saturday night is a big test for manager Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard’s team has stumbled badly at this stage in the last two seasons, and a repeat scenario must be avoided.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is enjoying a successful first campaign with the Old Gold. His side has already surpassed their points total from last season and sits comfortably in mid-table.
O’Neil is an astute tactician, able to adapt his game against the bigger clubs. Manchester City, Tottenham, and Chelsea have all left Molineux empty-handed this term.
Team news
Arsenal
Arteta has no fresh injury concerns but faces some difficult selection issues. His insistence on playing a small core group throughout the campaign seems to be impacting negatively, as the likes of Declan Rice, Ben White, and Bukayo Saka are visibly wilting in the latter stages of recent matches.
It feels as if the team is at a performance tipping point. The key factors surrounding potential success rest on whether the regular personnel can summon up the energy to thrive again and if Arteta can finally trust the fringe players.
Takehiro Tomiyasu looked rusty at left-back against Bayern and could be replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko or Jakub Kiwior. Gabriel Martinelli is not back to his best on the wing and may give way to Leandro Trossard.
Arteta might surprise his opposite number by opting for Emile Smith Rowe or Fabio Vieira to inject some much-needed midfield impetus.
Wolves
Ahead of the match, O’Neil is facing somewhat of an injury crisis. Portuguese star winger Pedro Neto is recovering from a serious hamstring problem. He is joined on the sidelines by top scorer Matheus Cunha, Nelson Semedo, Jeanricner Bellegarde, and Craig Dawson.
Defender Rayan Ait-Nouri and forward Hwang Hee-chan will have late fitness tests.
Predicted XI
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Havertz, Trossard
Match prediction
Wolves 0.3 Arsenal
What are the managers saying?
Mikel Arteta
On the importance of the next game:
“The context is clear. If we win we are top of the league. That’s the context; we don’t need anything else to be motivated or to go to that game with our minds clear and our purpose very, very clear.”
Gary O’Neil
On looking ahead now the club are safe from relegation:
“Let’s enjoy the moment we’re in. We’re playing Arsenal tomorrow, Bournemouth, and Luton at home. It’s going to be an incredible crowd at Molineux, so it’s an exciting week for everybody.”
How to watch
The match is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports. Kick-off is 19:30 GMT
The post Wolves vs Arsenal Preview: Only a win will do! appeared first on AFTV.
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