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Arsenal logo
Premier League | Gameweek 20
Feb 24, 2022 at 7.45pm UK
Emirates Stadium
Wolves logo

Arsenal
2 - 1
Wolves

Pepe (82'), Lacazette (90+5')
Saka (38')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Hee-chan (10')
Jimenez (89')

Preview: Arsenal vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's Premier League clash between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Barely 48 hours after a comprehensive Boxing Day thrashing of Norwich City, Arsenal return to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday lunchtime for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

While the hosts put five unanswered goals past the Canaries at the weekend, Bruno Lage's side did not take to the field on Boxing Day due to coronavirus cases in the Watford camp.


Match preview

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta pictured in November 2021© Reuters

With no recognised right-back available and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still on the naughty step, few would have expected Arsenal to prevail in the manner that they did at Carrow Road, but the young guns stole the show.

Bukayo Saka netted twice while Kieran Tierney, Emile Smith Rowe and Alexandre Lacazette also got in on the act in a 5-0 romping of Dean Smith's side, with Mikel Arteta a very happy man in the dugout as his side ran riot on Boxing Day.

TABLE

Victory at Carrow Road marked the Gunners' fifth in a row across all competitions and fourth on the bounce in the Premier League, and the absence of Aubameyang clearly is not being felt, with Arsenal notching up a staggering 19 goals in that five-game winning run.

With less than 48 hours to recover for the visit of Wolves, enforced changes and jellied legs will threaten to end that hot streak, but the hosts' five-game winning run at home in the Premier League - with four clean sheets in their last four - will aid them once again in their top-four chase.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage reacts on October 16, 2021© Reuters

Watford's coronavirus crisis allowed Wolves to spend the Boxing Day festivities away from competitive action, with Bruno Lage's men enjoying the rare luxury of a nine-day rest before they face a second successive London derby in the Premier League.

The West Midlands outfit performed valiantly to hold European champions Chelsea to a goalless stalemate at Molineux on December 19 - their second clean sheet on the bounce following their previous win at Brighton & Hove Albion a few days beforehand.

Wolves have not exactly become renowned for exciting, goal-laden affairs in recent weeks, but the defensive discipline that Lage has instilled into his side is remarkable, with only two goals conceded in their last seven Premier League encounters.

Even then, Manchester City and Liverpool could only claim 1-0 wins over Wolves, who remain in European contention as they sit X in the table following the Boxing Day games ???

The 1-0 win at the Amex on December 15 represents Wolves' only win and only goal from their last four games away from home, although they did claim a pair of 2-1 wins over Arsenal last term, with the victory at the Emirates marred by that sickening head injury Raul Jimenez suffered in a collision with David Luiz.

Arsenal Premier League form:
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W

Arsenal form (all competitions):
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • D



Team News

Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu after sustaining an injury on December 18, 2021© Reuters

Arsenal revealed before the win over Norwich that Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Cedric Soares and Takehiro Tomiyasu - the latter of whom is also nursing an injury - had all tested positive for COVID-19.

Calum Chambers was already ruled out for the same reason as Ben White stepped in at right-back, while another full-back in Sead Kolasinac remains in the treatment room.

Arteta will undoubtedly be forced into numerous changes for Tuesday's contest, with Nicolas Pepe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah potentially coming into contention for places.

Aubameyang was once again left out of the squad for the trip to Carrow Road, but tired legs may very well force Arteta to reinstate his former captain in North London.

Wolves have not been totally unaffected by the surge in coronavirus cases, with Fabio Silva and Yerson Mosquera - who is injured anyway - missing the Chelsea draw after returning positive tests.

The former may be able to return here with a negative test, but Willy Boly, Pedro Neto and Jonny are long-term absentees, while uncertainty lingers over Hwang Ui-jo and Rayan Ait-Nouri's availability.

Nevertheless, Lage should be reluctant to make too many changes from the side which impressively kept a clean sheet against Chelsea, which could mean another start on the right for Ki-Jana Hoever in place of Nelson Semedo.

The visitors are also in talks with Morocco over the possibility of keeping Romain Saiss beyond the December 27 deadline to join up for the Africa Cup of Nations, and his availability remains unclear at the time of writing.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; White, Holding, Mari, Tavares; Elneny, Lokonga; Pepe, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang; Nketiah

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Hoever, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Marcal; Jimenez, Podence


SM words green background

We say: Arsenal X-Y Wolverhampton Wanderers

Prediction justification text here



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Arsenal win with a probability of 61.14%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Wolverhampton Wanderers had a probability of 15.55%.

The most likely scoreline for an Arsenal win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.73%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.71%) and 2-1 (9.34%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.82%), while for a Wolverhampton Wanderers win it was 0-1 (6.27%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Arsenal in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Arsenal.


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Game History

How you voted: Arsenal vs Wolves

Arsenal
66.8%
Draw
16.0%
Wolverhampton Wanderers
17.2%
319
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


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