This weekend, specifically Saturday night, the reunion party Mikel Arteta's a game in which three points are an absolute must. Arsenal will welcome the last team in the table, Wolverhampton, to the Emirates Stadium. On paper, everything looks clear, so let's hope that the north London footballers will confirm their role as a big favourite at home and outplay their opponents. Personally, I would really like the Gunners to live up to their nickname and put as many goals in the Wolves goal as possible. Why, you ask? The answer is very simple, because I am heading to the match against Wolverhampton, where, by the way, the Czech national team player Ladislav Krejci is also playing. I have no choice but to believe that Arsenal will please me with their performance and result. But we can already start to review together everything we need to know before the game.
Form
Finally, the teams have played enough games for me to to embark on a proper assessment of the current form. Logically, I'm analyzing the Gunners' form week by week, or rather game by game, so there's not much new to see. On the other hand, it will be interesting on the opponent's side today. Why? Because Wolverhampton, who have been absolutely unsuccessful this season, will come to the north of London to fight for points. I won't bore you, let's take a look together at the form of both teams.
Arsenal
Since it's only been a few days since my last blog, I'll keep it brief. But to start with I'll remind you how the situation at the top of the Premier League. Arsenal held on despite last week's defeat to Aston Villa at the top of the English top flight. However, the Gunners' lead over Manchester City has shrunk to two points. For this reason, the clash with Wolves will be very important for Arsenal. Cityzens will play their round of 16 match on Sunday, so the North London team can at least for a while get back to a five-point gap and to put their competitors under a little pressure.
In terms of actual form, it's especially in domestic competition, Arsenal have not had the most successful season recently. On the other hand Mikel Arteta has set such a standard at Arsenal that any game that doesn't end in a win is a huge failure. The bar is really high. Despite draws with Sunderland and Chelsea and a defeat to Aston Villa, form remains at a decent level. To add context, Arsenal responded to the bitter defeat at Villa Park with a sovereign win in Bruges, hopefully starting a new winning streak. Arsenal's overall form has been slightly weaker in recent games, but all things considered, it remains at a decent level.
Wolverhampton
How to assess the form of a team that has hasn't managed to win a single game in the league since the start of the season? After fifteen rounds played, the Wolves have just one two points, ...for draws with Tottenham and Brighton. It's no surprise then that the team manager Rob Edwards occupies the last place in the Premier League. I will stop for a while in the next part of the article with the Welsh manager, who sat on the bench of the Wolves in the 12th round. Now back to form. At the start of the season, Wolverhampton's did well at least in the EFL Cup, in which he first knocked out West Ham and then Everton. But in the next round (already in the eighth round) against Chelsea, the Wolves' journey through the English Cup ended.
As far as current form is concerned, I usually evaluate it in terms of the last five games, Wolverhampton's record is absolutely disastrous. 0 points and a scary score of 1:11. But it doesn't stop there. The crisis of the Molineux group has even deeper roots. The losing streak is not five but nine games! Yes, you read that right, Wolverhampton have lost nine games in a row and will be in danger of reaching double figures in this unflattering statistic on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.
Team and expected line-up
Before I get to the projected lineup. I'd like to introduce you to a new, which I decided to use, starting with today's blog, to present the expected lineup. I believe you will find the graphics more interesting, clearer and easier to navigate.
Now a little more about the expected line-up. After some stars like Jurriën Timber, Declan Rice or Leandro Trossard for various reasons did not take part in the game in Bruges, so other key players either spent the game on the bench or came on for a few minutes at the end. I'm thinking in particular of the English duo Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze. Although some of the players had an excellent Champions League match (solid performance in the centre of defence, for example Christian Nørgaard), so I think Mikel Arteta will play it safe and send him into the game against Wolverhampton the strongest thing at his disposal.
Yeah, those There are quite a few question marks in the Arsenal line-up again. We can't expect the Spanish manager to tell us anything crucial at the pre-match press conference. Still, I think the Gunners could run the lineup you see in the graphic. There is a lot of confusion about the trio who were missing in Wednesday's game in Bruges. Declan Rice he should be fully fit after his illness. U Leandro Trossard the situation is different, but I believe that the Belgian magician will also be ready to hit the game from the first minute. Otherwise, I would guess that he will be replaced in the starting lineup Noni Madueke. As far as William Saliba, I expect the Spanish manager will want to save him for the upcoming games.
Although Kai Havertz is certainly looking forward to his return to the pitch, so I don't think the German footballer's comeback will take place in the game against Wolves. The injured stoppers will also be missing Gabriel and Cristhian Mosquera. Due to a card penalty, he will not be able to help his team on Saturday Riccardo Calafiori.
About the opponent
Wolverhampton, currently playing his already eighth consecutive season in the Premier League, and in recent years has been one of the traditional and regular participants in the top English competition. But that may not be the case for much longer. Fifteen rounds down, thethe Wolves are in last place with a significant loss and a terrible record of two draws and thirteen defeats. Due to a disastrous start to the season, the Wolverhampton management decided to terminate the cooperation with Portuguese manager Vítor Pereira after ten rounds. replaced by Rob Edwards. You may remember the Welsh manager especially from his time on the Luton bench. However, the treatment by the new manager hasn't worked on Wolves yet. Let's see how the performances and results will look like in the next matches.
Looking at the player roster, the Wolves standings and results don't make sense to me. There are a number of interesting players on the roster. Sure, we're not talking about world-class stars here, but considering we're talking about Wolverhampton, the new manager certainly can't complain about the lack of quality of players. For example, at goalkeeper he can choose from two experienced players who are José Sá and Sam Johnstone. Of the defensive players I can't start with anyone other than the Czech national team Ladislav Krejci, who won the Wolves fans over with his performances almost immediately after his arrival on the Islands. The thirty-three year old adds much needed experience to the Wolves' defensive line. Matt Doherty. In the backup line, they are again the stalwarts Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and the Brazilian duo João Gomes and André. After the departure of Matheus Cunha in the summer, the Norwegian forward is the Wolves' biggest offensive weapon Jørgen Strand Larsen. It is worth mentioning also Hee-Chan Hwang.
Match
Ahead of Arsenal's clash with Wolverhampton speaks in favour of the home footballers perhaps everything that can be considered important. From the quality, breadth, chemistry and experience of the squad to the home environment and current form. Therefore, it is extremely important that the Spanish manager's charges do not underestimate their opponents, who are in last place in the table, in any way. With all due respect to Wolves, Arsenal can only lose the game themselves. I don't even want to imagine such a scenario, so let's quickly move back to reality and the expected picture of the game.
As I indicated, Arsenal players should have the reins of the game in their hands. In general, it is expected that there will be such a typical picture when Arsenal plays at home stadium against a big outsider. Great territorial and possession superiority from which chances and goals should spring. Conversely, Wolverhampton will go into the game with a purely defensive tactic. Offensively, the visitors will rely heavily on breakaway and standard situations. I firmly believe that there will be no surprises at the Emirates Stadium and, on the contrary, I expect Mikel Arteta's charges to easily take the three points. I predict Arsenal to win 3:0.
Next match
After the match against Wolverhampton, Arsenal will have a week break from competitive matches. Mikel Arteta's charges will be back in action exactly one week after the Wolves game, specifically Saturday 20 December 2025 at 21:00 (CET) at Everton. It will be the first ever game for the Gunners at the new Toffees stadium, which is called Hill Dickinson Stadium.
See you next time, I'll look forward to it!
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Editor, administrator and editor of the True Gunner Diary website, but above all a devoted Arsenal fan. I started with sports articles at the Tipsport bookmaker, where I have published more than 100 blogs. If you want to know more about me, check out the section of the same name here on the site.