Arsenal Face Wolverhampton Wanderers in Crucial Top-Flight Clash
All eyes turn for a compelling top-flight matchup as league leaders the Gunners entertain rock-bottom Wolves to the Emirates Stadium.
Starting Lineups
Arsenal have made three changes from the XI that suffered a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in their previous outing. William Saliba, Viktor Gyökeres and the Brazilian winger are all included in the lineup. The captain and the Spanish midfielder drop to the substitutes' bench, while Riccardo Calafiori is absent. Saliba returns after missing a run of games due to injury.
The visitors also make three adjustments to their starting XI after being soundly beaten 4-1 at home by United on Monday evening. The experienced full-back, João Gomes and the South Korean forward are recalled. Hoever and Jhon Arias are on the substitutes, while Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde is omitted altogether.
The Teams in Full
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Hincapie, Timber, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Bench: Arrizabalaga, Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Norgaard, Trossard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Merino, Lewis-Skelly.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Mosquera, Agbadou, Toti Gomes, Doherty, Joao Gomes, Andre Trindade, Krejci, Wolfe, Larsen, Hwang.
Subs: Tchatchoua, Mane, Lopez, Hoever, Chirewa, Arokodare, Arias, Santiago Bueno, Jose Sa.
Referee: Robert Jones
Video Assistant Referee: John Brooks
Preamble
Good evening! Because, look at this …
The standings reveals a clear contrast. Arsenal sit comfortably at the summit of the table, while their opponents anchor the division.
… yet while this will be the 42nd time the Premier League leaders have played the side at the foot of the entire table – with 30 out of 41, with seven tied games – which team is behind two of the four all-time upsets? Indeed, Wolves, that’s who! So while Mikel Arteta will surely be expecting another victory, the Wolves boss must know that underdogs occasionally succeed, and anything is possible. The start is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
(The remaining last-over-first victories in the modern top-flight era are Oldham’s 1-0 win over United in March 1993, and Spurs – yeah, this one sounds a bit weird - defeating Liverpool in November 2008.)
