Arsenal have been knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich which means the Premier League is now their only hope of winning a silverware this season.
The Gunners will have no time to dissect their European exit because they will have to face Wolves in the EPL on Saturday night and after last weekend’s loss to Villa, Arsenal will go into this matchweek, two points behind table-toppers Manchester City.
The UCL exit would have hurt a lot because just like last season, Arsenal are losing steam at the worst possible moment and if they cannot win against Wolves then their domestic title hopes might also be shattered by the end of this matchweek. Thankfully, Wolves aren’t in great form because they have not won in their previous five encounters and they are currently 11th on the table. The Molineux outfit are 18 points away from the relegation zone so not much is riding on this away trip for them.
Man City will be playing in the FA Cup this weekend which means Arsenal have the chance to reclaim the top spot momentarily but if they were to lose then City and Liverpool could both pull away, leaving the Gunners in the third position.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Apart from Jurrien Timber, there are no other injuries so Mikel Arteta won’t have a problem naming a strong starting XI on Saturday.
Ideally, the Arsenal manager should be resting a few of his regular starters but he just cannot afford to do that with City sitting two points clear. Possibly, Zinchenko will come back into the side replacing Tomiyasu at left-back but apart from him, the others will remain in the backline.
Thomas Partey is back from injury but we don’t think Arteta will risk putting Jorginho on the bench because the Italian has been brilliant in the last couple of months.
Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus will both be pushing for starts and we think at least one of them will find a place in the starting XI. The manager won’t take out Martinelli or Bukayo Saka meaning Trossard will be the one who starts on the bench.
Gabriel Jesus could and should replace Kai Havertz up front but then again, it won’t be a major surprise if the Arsenal manager opts for an unchanged front-three against Wolves.
Arsenal are winless in their last three matches across all competitions which means they have to win this one at any cost. Anything other than three points and Man City will have the chance to open up a sizeable gap at the top of the table and run out of sight.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Wolves:
Predicted starting XI(4-3-3): Raya; Gabriel, Saliba, Zinchenko, Ben White; Declan Rice, Odegaard, Jorginho; Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Havertz/Jesus.
