Arsenal Take On Wolverhampton Wanderers in Crucial English Top Division Encounter
All eyes turn for a fascinating top-flight matchup as league leaders Arsenal host bottom-placed Wolves to the Emirates Stadium.
Confirmed Sides
Arsenal have introduced a trio of alterations from the XI that suffered a narrow loss at Aston Villa last weekend. William Saliba, Viktor Gyökeres and Gabriel Martinelli are all included in the starting eleven. Martin Ødegaard and Mikel Merino drop to the substitutes' bench, while Riccardo Calafiori is absent. The centre-back returns after sitting out five matches due to injury.
The visitors also have made three changes to their starting XI after being soundly beaten 4-1 at Molineux by United last time out. Matt Doherty, the Brazilian midfielder and Hwang Hee-chan start. Hoever and Jhon Arias are on the substitutes, while Bellegarde is not in the squad altogether.
Starting Elevens
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Hincapie, Timber, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Subs: 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.
Bench: Tchatchoua, Mane, Lopez, Hoever, Chirewa, Arokodare, Arias, Santiago Bueno, Jose Sa.
Match Official: Robert Jones
VAR Official: John Brooks
The Setup
Good evening! And I mean, c’mon …
The standings tells a clear picture. The hosts sit comfortably at the top of the Premier League, while Wolves anchor the division.
… however, even though this will be the 42nd occasion the top side have played the team propping up the entire table – with 30 out of 41, with seven draws – who are behind two of the four all-time upsets? Why, Wolverhampton Wanderers, that’s who! So while Mikel Arteta will surely be expecting another three points, the Wolves boss must know that underdogs occasionally succeed, and you never know. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
(The other two bottom-beats-top wins in the Premier League era are Oldham’s 1-0 win over Manchester United in March 1993, and Spurs – admittedly, this one sounds a bit weird - beating Liverpool in November 2008.)
