Premier League leaders and title hopefuls Arsenal will endeavour to move seven points clear at the summit when they travel to Molineux to face basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night.
The Gunners survived a late fightback from the Old Gold in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium two months ago, with a 94th-minute own goal sealing a 2-1 victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Match preview
Arsenal have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2020 – the same season Mikel Arteta lifted the first and only major trophy of his managerial career to date – after easing to a 4-0 home victory over Wigan Athletic on Sunday, courtesy of four goals in the opening 27 minutes.
Tentative talk of a historic quadruple has emerged as a result, but Arteta’s side will continue to take one game at a time, with FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League duties put to one side for now as the Gunners shift their focus back to the Premier League and their quest to win the title for the first time in over two decades.
Arsenal deserve credit for losing just one of their last 11 Premier League games (W7 D3), but an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Brentford last week has allowed title rivals Manchester City to close the gap at the summit to four points with 12 games left to play, including a tricky trip to the Etihad in April.
The Gunners travel to Molineux this week having prevailed in only three of their last eight Premier League away matches (D4 L1), though they can take comfort from the fact that they have won each of their last 14 top-flight games against teams in the relegation zone by an impressive aggregate score of 40-4 – the longest winning run against clubs in the bottom three (or bottom four in 1994-95) in the division’s history.
In addition, Arsenal have won nine of their 11 PL visits to Wolves (L2) – their highest win rate against any team they have faced 10+ times on the road (82%) – and have also scored in each of their last 36 meetings with the Old Gold across all competitions. In English football history, only Wrexham have enjoyed a longer scoring streak against an opponent (49 versus Darlington between 1929 and 1961).
Like Arsenal, Wolves secured their place in the FA Cup fifth round after overcoming a scrappy contest in treacherous conditions at Blundell Park to beat fourth-tier outfit Grimsby Town 1-0 on Sunday, courtesy of a second-half goal kneed into the net by
This result for the Old Gold came four days after they survived 35 shots on their goal to claim a point in a Premier League goalless stalemate with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, meaning Rob Edwards’s side have now collected six of their nine points this season since the turn of the year.
Wolves remain destined for the drop, though, as they are still rooted to the foot of the table and are 18 points adrift of safety with only 12 games left to play. They will be keen to pick up at least three more points before the campaign concludes and avoid breaking Derby County’s lowest points record (11) from 2007-08.
The West Midlands side have lost 10 of their 13 Premier League home matches this term (W1 D2), with only Southampton last season recording 10 home losses in fewer games (12); Wolves have only suffered more home defeats in a single top-flight campaign twice before – 11 in 1964-65 and 13 in 2011-12.
Wolves will find it difficult to improve their home record on Wednesday, as they have lost each of their last nine Premier League encounters with Arsenal since doing the double over the Gunners in 2020-21. They have also lost 16 of their 20 PL matches against teams starting the day top of the table (W3 D1), beating Man United in January 2004 and February 2011, and Man City in September 2023.
Team News
Arsenal trio Mikel Merino (foot), Kai Havertz (muscle) and Martin Odegaard (knee) remain sidelined with injuries, while Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White will both be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Calafiori is “fine”, according to Arteta, after he pulled out of the starting lineup shortly before kickoff against Wigan, while White felt tightness in his hamstring towards the end of the match. Max Dowman – now back in training after an ankle injury – will also be assessed.
William Saliba recovered from illness to start and play for an hour against Wigan. The Frenchman is expected to continue in defence and could be joined in the back four by Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Magalhaes and Piero Hincapie, who were all rested at the weekend.
After recovering from a hip problem, Bukayo Saka replaced Calafiori in the Arsenal XI against Wigan – starting his first game in any competition since January 25 – and he is likely to continue on the right side of a front three including Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard.
However, Noni Madueke has scored in his last two Premier League away games and has also netted more top-flight goals against Wolves than any other opponent, with his four goals against them accounting for 27% of his total in the division (4/15), so Arteta may work out a way to fit the winger into his lineup.
As for Wolves, Hwang Hee-Chan is ruled out for several weeks with a calf injury, while Wednesday’s game will come too soon for Toti Gomes, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since playing in the aforementioned 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in December.
Edwards only made one substitution in the win at Grimsby – and that was in the 89th minute – so he may consider freshening up his lineup in a few positions, with the likes of Jose Sa, Matt Doherty, Hugo Bueno, Rodrigo Gomes and January signing Angel Gomes all pushing for a recall.
Tolu Arokodare scored in the reverse fixture at the Emirates and is expected to continue up front with new recruit Adam Armstrong, while 18-year-old starlet Mateus Mane is set to operate in an advanced midfield role in front of Joao Gomes and either Angel Gomes or Andre.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Mosquera, S. Bueno, Krejci; R. Gomes, A. Gomes, Mane, J. Gomes, H. Bueno; Armstrong, Arokodare
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Rice, Zubimendi, Eze; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard