Wolves vs Arsenal will be a superb clash on Thursday (watch live, 2:45pm ET via Peacock Premium) as two teams with top four dreams collide.
That’s right. Wolves are surging as Bruno Lage’s side are unbeaten in five in the Premier League, winning four of those games. They are currently on a three-game winning run in the PL and sit on 34 points, two points behind sixth-place Arsenal. Wolves’ defensive prowess continues to lead their charge towards the top four as Jose Sa, Max Kilman and Conor Coady have been rock solid, while Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho have been mercurial in midfield. Getting Raul Jimenez back to his best is the main aim for Wolves and after allowing Adama Traore to join Barcelona in January, it will be intriguing to see if the likes of Daniel Podence, Trincao and Fabio Silva now step up. This is a huge game in deciding which way Wolves’ season will go.
The same could be said for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s side drew at home against Burnley last time out and have dropped out of the top four in recent weeks, plus lost to Liverpool in the League Cup semifinals. After offloading Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January and not replacing him, there is a lot of pressure on Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah to score the goals to push them back into the top four. Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard will be tasked with chipping in with plenty of goals from midfield too, as Arsenal look much better defensively this season but have blown hot and cold in attack. Heading into the midweek slate of games they sit just two points out of the top four and have a game in-hand (or more) over most of their rivals.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Wolves vs Arsenal.
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Wolves team news, injuries, lineup options
Pedro Neto and Willy Boly should both return next month, which is a big boost for Wolves. Jonny Otto, Yerson Mosquera and Hwang-Hee chan will all return in the next few weeks’ to further bolster Lage’s squad. Romain Saiss is back from AFCON duty and Wolves will likely remain with their solid 3-4-3 formation with Saiss replacing the impressive Toti Gomes at center back.
Tonight's line-up as we prepare to face @Arsenal. #WOLARS
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 10, 2022
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/2rscNJ8IT4
Arsenal team news, injuries, lineup options
The Gunners have a few injury issues to sort out. At right back Cedric is a doubt and Takehiro Tomiyasu is likely to return soon but may not be ready for this game. Central midfield is also a problem area as both Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are suspended. That means Albert Sambi Lokonga will start, with Odegaard potentially playing in a deeper role. Nicolas Pepe is back from AFCON, while Mohamed Elneny is not expected to feature after he played in Egypt’s defeat in the final.
📋 Introducing our starting XI…
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 10, 2022
🇬🇭 @ThomasPartey22 returns
🏴 @BukayoSaka87 starts
🇫🇷 @LacazetteAlex as captain #WOLARS pic.twitter.com/7kzimQG2z2
