Two teams in top-four battle go head to head as Wolverhampton Wanders welcome Arsenal to Molineux for a crucial Premier League encounter on Thursday night with kickoff at 22:45.
Wolverhampton Wanderers struggled for consistency in the first half of the season, but a run of four wins and a draw from their last five league matches has seen Wolves climb to eighth in the Premier league table with 34 points from 21 matches. Also, they are now just four points outside the top four with a game in hand and a win on Saturday will see them considered as outsiders for a stunning top-four finish.
However, Bruno Lage’s side crashed out of the FA Cup at home to Norwich on Saturday with Kenny McLean’s header in the extra time of the first half proving to be the only difference between the two.
The match saw Wolves miss Adama Traore’s trademark busting runs down the right wing as they lacked a great deal of attacking bite and it continued their struggles in front of goal as they are the third worst attacking side in the top tier with 19 goals from 21 games. Therefore, Lage needs to find a solution to their attacking woes soon if he fancies the top-four finish.
Arsenal remain maddeningly inconsistent under Mikel Arteta and this clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers will give us a better idea of whether the Gunners are ready to mount a sustained push for a top-four Premier League finish.
The match will their first game since the winter break and the Gunners head into the match in poor form as they have not won in any of their last five matches across all competitions. the run has seen Mikel Arteta’s side get knocked out of the FA Cup, the ELF Cup and it has got them embroiled in an intense race for a top four spot.
The January transfer window added the frustration for the Emirates faithfuls as their club missed out on sealing deals for top targets such as Dusan Vlahovic and Alexander Isaak and many argue that the Gunners have actually been left with a weaker side with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Callum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles among the 13 players leaving the Emirates.
However, Arteta still has a decent XI capable of landing them the precious top-four finish and with it being the only thing left for the Gunners to fight for, Arteta will be desperate to return to winning ways in the Thursday’s clash. A win will help lift the spirits around the Emirates after a disappointing January.
Wolves vs Arsenal team news
Both sides have met in 16 encounters since 2003 with Arsenal claiming 10 victories while Wolves have claimed three victories and there have been three draws.
- Wolves 2-1 Arsenal 02/02/21
- Arsenal 1-2 Wolves 29/11/20
- Wolves 0-2 Arsenal 04/07/20
- Arsenal 1-1 Wolves 02/11/19
- Wolves 3-1 Arsenal 24/04/19
Home
- Wolves 0-1 Norwich
- Brentford 1-2 Wolves
- Wolves 3-1 Southampton
- Wolves 3-0 Sheffield
- Man United 0-1 Wolves
Away
- Arsenal 0-0 Burnley
- Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
- Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal
- Nottingham 1-0 Arsenal
- Arsenal 1-2 Man City
Wolves team news
Wolves will be without Jonny Castro, Pedro Neto, Yerson Mosquera, Hee-chan Hwang and Will Boly due to injuries while Romain Saiss is expected to make a return.
Arsenal team news
Cedric Soares and Takehiro Tomiyasu are the only injury concerns for Arsenal while both Partey and Xhaka are expected back from suspension.
Prediction and odds
- Draw
- Arsenal win
- Both sides to score
