As the Premier League festive fixtures ignite, league leaders Arsenal welcome rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Emirates Stadium this evening (8:00 PM GMT kick-off). It\u2019s a classic tale of top versus tail: Mikel Arteta\u2019s Gunners, perched atop the table with a blend of flair and fortitude, face a Wolves side mired in misery, winless after 15 games and staring down the barrel of relegation. With Arsenal nursing a slender lead after a midweek Champions League stroll against Club Brugge, this encounter offers the perfect tonic to banish any lingering demons from their recent slip against Aston Villa. For Wolves, under beleaguered boss Rob Edwards, it\u2019s another desperate salvage mission amid fan unrest and a nine-game losing streak. Expect fireworks \u2013 mostly one-sided \u2013 in this pivotal Gameweek 16 showdown.<\/p>\n
Arsenal arrive in buoyant mood, unbeaten in their last five league outings (W3 D2) and fresh off a 3-0 demolition of Club Brugge that preserved their perfect European record. The Gunners\u2019 attack has been lethal, netting 12 goals across those games, while their defense \u2013 the stingiest in the division \u2013 has conceded just four. Bukayo Saka\u2019s wizardry on the right and Martin \u00d8degaard\u2019s midfield orchestration have been pivotal, but it\u2019s the emergence of Viktor Gy\u00f6keres up top that\u2019s added real teeth, with the Swede bagging four in his last six starts.<\/p>\n
Contrast that with Wolves\u2019 horror show. Edwards\u2019 men sit dead last with a paltry two points from 15 matches \u2013 a points-per-game average of 0.13 that threatens to eclipse Derby County\u2019s infamous 2007-08 low of 11 total points. Their latest capitulation? A 4-1 home thrashing by Manchester United on Monday, extending a winless run to 15 league games and a nine-match losing streak across all competitions. Protests against ownership marred that Molineux meltdown, and with 13 points adrift of safety, the visitors\u2019 only faint hope lies in their historic knack for upsets as the league\u2019s basement dwellers \u2013 they\u2019ve toppled table-toppers twice before, including Man Utd in 2004 and 2011.<\/p>\n
| Position<\/th>\n | Arsenal (4-3-3)<\/th>\n | Wolverhampton Wanderers (5-3-2)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK<\/strong><\/td>\n| David Raya<\/td>\n | Sam Johnstone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | DEF<\/strong><\/td>\n | Ben White, Jurri\u00ebn Timber, Piero Hincapi\u00e9, Myles Lewis-Skelly<\/td>\n | Carlos Mosquera, Axel Agbadou, Toti, Ki-Jana Hoever<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | MID<\/strong><\/td>\n | Martin \u00d8degaard, Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice<\/td>\n | Boubacar Traor\u00e9, Jo\u00e3o Gomes, Marshall Munetsi (if fit)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | FWD<\/strong><\/td>\n | Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gy\u00f6keres, Eberechi Eze<\/td>\n | David M\u00f8ller Wolfe, Kevin Strand Larsen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Note: Lineups subject to late fitness checks; Arsenal\u2019s midfield pivot could shift to N\u00f8rgaard-Rice if Rice sits.<\/em><\/p>\n This screams routine for the hosts. Wolves\u2019 collapse \u2013 averaging 0.13 points per game \u2013 meets Arsenal\u2019s home fortress, where they\u2019ve won four straight league ties. The Gunners\u2019 scoring streak against Wolves (35 games and counting) and superior firepower point to a comfortable evening. Predicted Score: Arsenal 4-0 Wolves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the Premier League festive fixtures ignite, league leaders Arsenal welcome rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Emirates Stadium this evening\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":37527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[270,998],"class_list":["post-16699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-arsenal","tag-wolves"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |