Arsenal begin their latest attempt to topple Manchester City at the top of the Premier League when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners once again ran the Cityzens close last season, having led the standings for much of the campaign, and hopes are high for 2024/25 after a few shrewd additions were made to Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Wolves, meanwhile, have lost influential winger Pedro Neto to Chelsea and defender Max Kilman to West Ham United and have been handed a tough opening day assignment as they look to improve on a finish of 14th in 2023/24.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the opening day clash.
Arsenal vs Wolves H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Arsenal |
Wolves |
|---|---|
|
Arsenal 2-0 Lyon – 11/08/24 |
Wolves 0-1 Rayo Vallecano – 10/08/24 |
|
Arsenal 4-1 Bayer Leverkusen – 07/08/24 |
Wolves 3-0 RB Leipzig – 03/08/24 |
|
Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal – 01/08/24 |
Crystal Palace 3-1 Wolves – 31/07/24 |
|
Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd – 28/07/24 |
Wolves 3-1 West Ham United – 27/07/24 |
|
Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd – 25/07/24 |
Wolves 3-0 Bristol City – 20/07/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
BBC Radio 5 Live (not televised) |
|
United States |
fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, UNIVERSON |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
It’s been a quieter summer transfer window for Arsenal this time around compared to last year, but they’ve still made David Raya’s loan permanent and brought in defender Riccardo Calafiori. However, Arteta may select a more familiar starting XI to get the campaign up and running.
Thomas Partey may partner Declan Rice while Martin Odegaard bombs forward and orchestrates the Gunners’ attacks, while Gabriel Martinelli could get the nod over Leandro Trossard on the left wing.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are sidelined by injuries, but Jurrien Timber could make the matchday squad having featured in pre-season.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Wolves (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has been dealt some transfer blows with the departures of Neto and Kilman and he may be without a couple more first-team stars due to injuries.
The former Bournemouth boss is currently sweating over the fitness of Matheus Cunha, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Daniel Podence, while Leon Chiwome and Enso Gonzalez are definitely out and Nelson Semedo is suspended.
Wolves predicted lineup vs Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Sa; Doherty, Mosquera, T. Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Lemina, J. Gomes; Larsen, Cunha, R. Gomes; Hwang.
After two runners-up finishes, Arsenal know there is little room for error when duelling City at the top of the Premier League table. Games like this have to result in wins and Arteta will know slip-ups against teams like Wolves could have dire consequences come the end of the campaign.
While that anxiety could become more prevalent later in the campaign, the Gunners have a dominant recent record against the Wanderers and, after some impressive pre-season performances, they should have more than enough fire power to blow their upcoming opponents away this weekend.
Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Wolves
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