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Wolves vs Arsenal match preview
A 3-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday and the arrival of opponents they have beaten in each of their last seven attempts might make Arsenal confident of another victory when they visit fourth-bottom Wolves on Saturday (3pm GMT).
Vitor Pereira’s side will be aiming to at least emulate the point procured by Aston Villa against Arsenal last Saturday, recovering from 2-0 behind after 59 minutes to secure a 2-2 draw with two goals inside nine minutes.
“Thank you for the stat, but that doesn’t help us,” Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said when he was informed of his side’s imperious recent record against Wolves.
“I know [new Wolves manager] Vitor [Pereira] very well from his previous clubs and what his ideas are… he has had a really good impact on the team.
“It will be a really tough match. They are a really well-coached team and, especially [at home], they are difficult to beat.”
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Wolves have taken seven points from a possible 30 at Molineux this season, with one of their two home wins coming against Manchester United in Pereira’s first home game in charge on December 26.
The Portuguese oversaw a victory at Leicester City and draw at Tottenham during his first three matches, but his players have lost their last three league games by an aggregate score of 9-1 following their 3-1 defeat at Chelsea on Monday.
They are above third-bottom Ipswich Town on goal difference and four points behind fifth-bottom Everton, having suffered defeats in three of their last four home games.
“When [Pereira] first came in, we got some good results… but we’ve got a tough run of fixtures now,” said Matt Doherty, their scorer at Stamford Bridge.
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“He’s brought a new lease of life to a lot of the players, myself included, and I think a lot of the Portuguese-speaking Brazilian players… we like his ideas, but we just need to be better on the day.
“We’re not going to use [tough opponents] as an excuse. It’s another one at home, and in all your home games you have to try to pick up points.”
Wolves vs Arsenal team news
Pereira says top scorer Matheus Cunha, who has 10 Premier League goals and four assists this season, is “very committed” following conversations with the manager amid reports linking the forward to several Premier League suitors during the January transfer window.
Midfielder Boubacar Traore and striker Sasa Kalajdzic are working on their recoveries from serious injuries, as is winger Enso Gonzalez.
Toti Gomes could play for the first time in 2025 following a hamstring injury, but Mario Lemina will not feature in midfield for the rest of the month because the 31-year-old wants a transfer.
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New signing Emmanuel Agbadou could make his home debut. “It’s difficult without work that demands physicality,” Pereira said of integrating the centre-back.
“He came with different concepts and now he needs to understand our concepts. We are trying to create the right co-ordination.”
Arsenal also have an issue in central defence because William Saliba is a doubt with a thigh injury, as is 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly with a knee issue.
“There is nothing serious on the scan,” Arteta said of Lewis-Skelly. “It’ll be a matter of having a meeting with the medical staff [on Friday].
“We have a training session, so we’ll see whether it’s too early or not and with [Saliba] it’s [a] similar [scenario] as well. I think he’ll be in for next week but this week, let’s see how it goes.”
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Key creative influence Bukayo Saka is sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury and striker Gabriel Jesus will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Full-backs Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are out, but Riccardo Calafiori could return after being an unused substitute in the Champions League.
Wolves vs Arsenal expected lineups
Wolves: Sa; Doherty, Bueno, Agbadou; Semedo, Andre, R. Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Guedes, Cunha; Strand Larsen
Arsenal: Raya; Partey, Timber, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard
How to watch Wolves vs Arsenal: Live stream, TV channel
Kick-off is at 15:00 UK time. The match will not be streamed or shown on live TV in the UK.
Wolves vs Arsenal stats
- In 19 of the last 21 Wolverhampton matches the sum of goals was over 2.5
- In 17 of the last 19 Wolverhampton matches in the Premier League, the sum of goals was over 2.5
- In 10 of the last 12 Wolverhampton home matches in the Premier League, the sum of goals was over 2.5
- Wolverhampton have lost the last 3 matches in a row in the Premier League while scoring less than 1.5 goals
- In 7 of the last 9 Wolverhampton home matches the sum of goals was over 2.5
- In the last 3 Arsenal matches the sum of goals was over 2.5
- In 3 of the last 4 Arsenal matches in the Premier League, the sum of goals was over 2.5
Wolves vs Arsenal prediction
As much as Arteta might not want to look back, his side have won their last three trips to Molineux without conceding since a 2-1 defeat in February 2021.
Arsenal have dropped points in two of their last three league away games, drawing 1-1 at Fulham on December 8 and Brighton & Hove Albion on January 4.
Only Tottenham have bettered Wolves’ tally of 32 goals among the bottom nine teams in the table, but their defensive frailties were again evident against Chelsea, leaving them with the most goals conceded – 51 – in the division.
Nineteen of those goals have come from set-piece situations, from which Arsenal lead the table when it comes to goals scored, with 10.
“I think it’s more a concentration thing when the ball comes in the box,” suggested Doherty. “You have to want to attack the ball and want to put your head in where it hurts, and we just need to start doing that.
“We need to start putting our head in where it hurts and defend these set pieces with an ‘over my dead body’ attitude.”
With those statistics in mind, it is hard to envisage Doherty’s call coming to successful fruition against the dangers Wolves will face, although they showed against Manchester United that they can keep clean sheets, albeit against a side enduring a dismal season by their bygone standards.
Arsenal have conceded in each of their last six and eight of their last nine domestic matches, so we’ll predict a 3-2 away win here.
