Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Arsenal
English Premier League
Wednesday 24th April – 19:45
Arsenal look to bounce back from a shock defeat at the weekend and keep their hopes of a top four finish alive as they travel to a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who have been inconsistent of late.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Form
Wolves have struggled for form recently, with brilliant performances such as a 2-1 win over Manchester United sandwiched between defeats at Southampton and Burnley.
A goalless draw against relegation strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend stretched their unbeaten home run to six league matches. However, it was also the first time they failed to find the net as hosts since defeat to Crystal Palace at the beginning of January.
Recent Form – DLWLDW
Arsenal Form
Arsenal’s defensive frailties were clear for all to see at the weekend, with mistakes leading to a 3-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace preventing them leapfrogging North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur into third place.
That loss ended a run of ten straight home league victories but was their second defeat in three in the Premier League. More worryingly, heading into this fixture, is the fact Arsenal have only won twice in their last ten away league games.
Recent Form – LWLWWD
Head to Head Statistics
Arsenal have a clear advantage in head to head statistics, with sixteen wins and four draws since Wolves last won in a meeting between the two back in 1979.
The only meeting since 2012 was at The Emirates Stadium in November, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring late on to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw following Ivan Cavaleiro’s first half opener for Wolves.
Last time they met with Wolves as the hosts, seven years ago, Arsenal were 3-0 winners in a one-sided affair.
Team News
Wolverhampton Wanderers have no new injuries or suspensions to worry about ahead of this fixture and will likely line up the same, or similar, to their match against Brighton at the weekend.
Shkodran Mustafi will be lucky to retain his place for Arsenal following an awful display at the weekend. He will likely be replaced by a returning Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who missed the last couple of games through suspension.
Granit Xhaka is another player manager Unai Emery will be hoping will return to action for this fixture and Matteo Guendouzi will likely make way if the Swiss midfielder is deemed fit enough to play. Aside from that, there may be other changes with Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Iwobi, and Mkhitaryan all pushing for a starting place.
Betting Odds
The bookmakers have this fixture closely matched with regards betting odds, which is down to Wolves’ unbeaten home run and Arsenal’s dodgy away record this term.
Betfair price the visitors as a very slight favourite at 6/4, with Wolves at 19/10 for the victory. The draw is priced at 5/2 and shows how tight this match is predicted to be.
In other markets, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been in fine goalscoring form of late and is priced at 13/10 to score anytime here. Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota are likely to be Wolves’ best chance of finding the net and they are priced at 15/8 and 13/5 in the same market respectively.