Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal welcomes Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Emirates in a midweek clash. This match was originally scheduled to be played toward the end of December 2021, but it was one of a litany of matches postponed, because of Coronavirus.
In their last ten home matches against Wolves, Arsenal has only lost once; an impressive record. The caveat is that the singular loss in that run came in this fixture last season. This means Wolves come to North London looking for back-to-back victories in the capital against Arsenal for the first time since 1979.
There is a weird quirk in the scheduling of this match. It will become the first top-flight match-up to have both league fixtures in a season played on a Thursday in almost 100 years. The last such occurrence was Tottenham-Bury in 1924/25.
These two sides played a league fixture against each other two weeks ago. The Gunners came away from Molineux with all three points in that one, winning 2-1.
That defeat is the only blot on the Wolverhampton ledger in their last eight matches.
Arsenal vs Wolves
When is it? Thursday, 24 February 2022 7:45 PM
Where is it? Emirates Stadium, London
Who’s in form? Arsenal (DLDWW) Wolves (WLLWW)
What are the odds? Arsenal (-150) Wolves (+475) Draw (+280)
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Starting XI Prediction: go here
With the return of Brazilian Gab Martinelli from suspension, and Japanese right back Takehiro Tomiyasu back in full training, Mikel Arteta has an entire squad to pick from this week. That’s right – no injuries and no suspensions.
Emile Smith Rowe came in for Martinelli for the Brentford game and he was sensational. He opened the scoring for Arsenal and was amongst the best players on the pitch.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Arteta sticks with the young Englishman or hands an immediate return to the Brazilian who has arguably been their best player in 2022.
Whatever way the Spanish gaffer goes – a fully fit squad is a pleasant problem to have towards the end of February in the Premier League.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.