Mikel Arteta was his usual coy and non-committal self when it came to the injury update in yesterday’s press conference. So we got merely the continued “matter of days” schtick with regards to Saliba, Trossard and Timber, whilst Rice was the same with the manager admitting that it was an illness that he picked up earlier in the week. I think I already mentioned in one of my blogs during last week, but these players are highly tuned athletes and so their immune systems will be pretty tip-top. So my expectation would be that we see Rice today.

I also think that we might see Saliba too because although the boss was all “I don’t know, we have another training session” yesterday, he admitted that he will be fine for Everton and so I reckon Saliba is ok for tonight. Whether or not they decide to be 100% on him remains to be seen because, with all due respect to Wolves, it is in attack that you would expect we will be spending most of our time. So even if they also want to rest up Timber (which will bugger up my FPL team but there you go) for this evening so he can be fine for Everton away next weekend, it remains to be seen. We do have Norgaard who played admirably as a centre half in midweek and I think the guys on the Arsenal Vision Pod made a really good point that Wolves and Club Brugge are probably of the same level in terms of opponent difficulty. So if Arteta is happy to play Norgaard in that game, he may well be happy to do the same again.

Personally, I suspect we might see a line up like this though:

Raya

White   –   Saliba   –   Hincapie   –   MLS

Zubimendi

Odegaard   –   Rice

Saka   –   Gyokeres   –   Eze

Here’s my thinking on the attacking side of it:

  1. Odegaard is Arteta’s captain and when he is fit he plays
  2. Saka got midweek rest and he’s another ‘first on the teamsheet’ kinda guy
  3. Gyokeres needs more minutes and I think Arteta will want him in there tonight to get at least 70
  4. Eze didn’t even get on the pitch and I think against what will invariably be a low block from Wolves, we have to have players who can dance their way around defenders.

On that last point, I suspect not getting on the pitch for Eze in midweek might also have a little something to do with his performance at Villa. He was ignominiously hooked at halftime for being asleep for the Cash goal and he had a bit of a stinker in Birmingham. If you let your foggin estandards drop then Arteta will let you know. So he saw zero minutes in the Champions League. But a home game against a team who will set up with a back five and holding midfielders and somebody like Martinelli just doesn’t really work. So I have a hunch it might be Eze asked to start from the left and drift in field to be involved centrally, as well as get shots off.

From Wolves’ perspective we got the good news that they will be missing Jean-Ricner Bellegarde through a hamstring injury. He’s been one of their best players this season and a key part of their midfield as an eight, so they will miss him, although Joao Gomes comes in from suspension, so he’ll slot back in to their midfield for sure. As I mentioned yesterday in the blog we know that Wolves will try to go long, they will try to get crosses in as their threat but we have to control everything tonight. Territory, possession, shots, the lot. This needs to be a game in which Arsenal have to show their quality. But there can’t be complacency. The longer it stays 0-0 the longer we’ll all get a bit antsy in the crowd of a smash and grab from the Black Country Boys – we’ve seen those over the years; one shot, one goal, but if Arsenal bag in the first half, the hope will be that the floodgates will open.

Wolves don’t usually park the bus, but I think they will today. I can’t see them sticking with their approach of trying to win tackles higher up the pitch and in some instances in the opposition half; if they try to do that they we will be able to cut through them so I think Rob Edwards will be pragmatic, he’ll stick his 11 men behind the ball and do a bit of “come on then – come and have a go” to us. Feels preordained that it will be the case today. So we need to find the answers, because if you want to win leagues then you have to find answers to every kind of opponent in every kind of way.

A lot of the pundits are obviously backing The Arsenal, but I’m with Lewis Jones from Sky Sports on this one. I don’t think this will be a battering – not in terms of the scoreline – because of the way Wolves might set up, but also because we always struggle to break down these types of teams. So I’d definitely plump for a 2-0 kind of score line. It’s the kind of score line you have seen us deliver already; we did it against Brentford, against Burnley, against West Ham, against Olympiajos, against Port Vale and against Athletic Bilbao. We get the first goal, we get the second goal, then that’s about it. And hey, I’d love that today because as bad as Wolves have been, they are still a Premier League outfit and they still have players on that pitch capable of causing an upset. Remember in 2020? They had themselves a victory during COVID and n February 2022 Hwang put them ahead on 10 minutes, only for us to come back in the last 10 minutes with goals from Pepe and an OG from Jose Sa. Hwang is still at Wolves and he’s still capable of magic, so we need to be mindful of that, because if we are complacent even Wolves can capitalise.

I’ll be there as usual and then tomorrow morning back on here for a debrief, as well as with Amanda and James for the Same Old Arsenal podcast. So until then, I’ll take my leave and wish you all the most happiest of Saturday’s, which of course can only happen if Arsenal win tonight.

Catch you tomorrow.