Arsenal v Wolves – Preview, Predictions, and Best Bets

Arsenal host Wolves at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners will want to finish the season on a high after successive league defeats. Julen Lopetegui’s side have taken just 11 points on the road this season, the third-fewest in the division. The reverse fixture finished in a 2-0 Arsenal win at Molineux in November.

Arsenal Form

The Gunners have won just two of their last eight league matches. Three successive draws with seven goals conceded saw them throw away 2-0 leads against both Liverpool and West Ham, before drawing 3-3 with bottom-placed Southampton at home. A resounding 4-1 loss at Man City took the title race out of their hands.

Arsenal rallied after that and vaguely kept their title challenge alive. They beat Chelsea 3-1 at home and went to Newcastle and won 2-0 in a very fine performance. Sadly, two poor defeats have followed. They were thoroughly outplayed in a 3-0 home loss to Brighton before losing 1-0 at Nottingham Forest last Saturday. Despite 82% possession, they only put up 0.64 xG.

Arsenal Team News

Mikel Arteta is without three defenders for this one in William Saliba, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Kieran Tierney could be recalled at left back after Jakub Kiwior started there against Nottingham Forest with Thomas Partey at right back.

Winger Gabriel Martinelli is ruled out and Reiss Nelson is a doubt with a virus. Leandro Trossard is set to play on the left. Eddie Nketiah is pushing for a rare start in place of Gabriel Jesus. Fabio Vieira will be hoping for a rare start in midfield.

Arsenal Motivation

Without a doubt, the side has lost some motivation and focus in recent weeks. They will want to give their home supporters a good send-off with a win in this one.

Arsenal will attack and take the game seriously. A draw would feel like a defeat and give a downbeat feeling to the end of the season.

Wolves Form

Wolves took 12 points from their opening 15 league fixtures before the appointment of Julen Lopetegui. The Spanish coach has taken 31 points from his 22 matches in charge to keep the side in the division with a few games to spare. The main reason for survival was a run of four home wins in six. They beat Chelsea 1-0 and then followed it up by beating Brentford 2-0 at Molineux.

Away losses at Leicester (2-1) and Brighton (6-0) sandwiched a key 2-0 home win against Crystal Palace. The side’s place in the top flight was secured by beating Aston Villa 1-0 at home. They’ve since eased off in a 2-0 loss at Man Utd where they conceded 27 shots and 3.20 xG. Last weekend, they rotated their team but a 99^th minute goal conceded saw them surrender a 1-0 lead in a 1-1 draw against Everton.

Wolves Team News

Wolves remain without two long-term injury victims in winger Chiquinho and target man Sasa Kalajdzic. They heavily rotated their XI against Everton and could revert to a lineup closer to their strongest for this one. Max Kilman and Jose Sa should return to the defensive unit. Mathus Cunha and Diego Costa are set to start as the front two.

In midfield, Matheus Nunes is set to return to start on the flank. Mario Lemina is set for a recall alongside Ruben Neves in central midfield. Adama Traore and Pablo Sarabia are among the players set to drop down to the bench.

Wolves Motivation

On the road, Wolves always look far less focused. They’re safe, they’ve been rotating their side and many of their squad could be set for summer moves.

All of that leads to them having one eye on their summer holidays. They’d take a draw from the fixture and avoiding a heavy defeat would probably be acceptable to the players.

Key Stats

Arsenal have won just 2 of their last 8 Premier League matches

Arsenal have won 13 of their 18 home EPL matches

Arsenal have conceded 25 goals at home with the second-fewest clean sheets

Wolves have lost 5 of their last 6 away league matches

Wolves have failed to score in 3 of their last 6 away matches (1 goal in each of the other 3)

Wolves have lost their last 3 matches vs Arsenal (5-1 aggregate)

Verdict

This match is hard to call. Arsenal leak goals at home but Wolves barely score on the road. The Gunners should have too much considering how much Wolves struggle in away fixtures.

Best Bet: Arsenal win and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.80

Alternative Bet: Arsenal win and Both Teams to Score at 2.65

Value Bet: Arsenal win and Martin Odegaard to score anytime at 3.03

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis