Arsenal Face Wolverhampton Wanderers in Crucial Top-Flight Clash

Focus shifts for a intriguing top-flight matchup as league leaders Arsenal welcome bottom-placed Wolves to the their home ground.

Starting Lineups

Mikel Arteta's side have made a trio of alterations from the team that endured a narrow loss at Villa Park last weekend. The French defender, Viktor Gyökeres and Gabriel Martinelli all come into the lineup. Martin Ødegaard and Mikel Merino are named on the bench, while Riccardo Calafiori is not involved. Saliba is back after sitting out five matches due to injury.

The visitors also make three adjustments to their lineup after being heavily defeated 4-1 at Molineux by Manchester United on Monday evening. Matt Doherty, João Gomes and Hwang Hee-chan come in. Hoever and Jhon Arias are on the substitutes, while Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde is omitted altogether.

The Teams in Full

Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Hincapie, Timber, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Bench: Arrizabalaga, Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Norgaard, Trossard, Madueke, Nwaneri, Merino, Lewis-Skelly.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Mosquera, Agbadou, Toti Gomes, Doherty, Joao Gomes, Andre Trindade, Krejci, Wolfe, Larsen, Hwang.
Substitutes: Tchatchoua, Mane, Lopez, Hoever, Chirewa, Arokodare, Arias, Santiago Bueno, Jose Sa.

Referee: Robert Jones
VAR Official: John Brooks

The Setup

Good evening! And I mean, c’mon …

The standings reveals a stark contrast. The hosts sit comfortably at the pinnacle of the Premier League, while Wolves occupy the bottom of the division.

… however, even though this will be the 42nd time the Premier League leaders have taken on the side propping up the entire table – with 30 victories from 41, with seven tied games – which team is responsible for two of the four historical shocks? Why, Wolverhampton Wanderers, that’s who! Therefore, although Mikel Arteta will surely be expecting another three points, the Wolves boss must know that long shots occasionally succeed, and anything is possible. Kick-off is at 8 o'clock in the evening GMT. The action is imminent!

^{(The remaining last-over-first victories in the modern top-flight era are Oldham’s 1-0 win over United in March 1993, and Spurs – yeah, a surprising one - beating Liverpool in November 2008.)}