Arsenal have a number of lingering injury doubts as they prepare to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers this evening.
That defeat at Aston Villa last week means just two points separate the Gunners and Manchester City who are also level on goal difference. The visit of the side slumped miserably at the bottom of the league presents the chance to add to that tally considerably tonight.
Mikel Arteta’s options are a limited in some areas however with injuries once again kicking in.
William Saliba has missed Arsenal’s last four games and having previously been coy on his situation, Arteta revealed on Friday it is a recurrence of an ankle injury troubling the Frenchman who has been unable to train.
Arteta did not rule him out of tonight’s game but yesterday’s comments would suggest he is a major doubt.
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With Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera still out, Jurrien Timber filled in at centre-half at Villa Park last week. But the Netherlands international is another doubt for the Wolves game after sitting out of the midweek victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Christian Norgaard filled in at centre-half midweek with Riccardo Calafiori another option to come inside if required.
Declan Rice also missed the game in Belgium due to illness. The England international, who started the Villa game last week after shaking off a calf injury, will hope to recover in time although Arteta did not confirm any decision on the midfielder when he spoke to the press on Friday.
Leandro Trossard meanwhile remains a doubt.
Arteta has a growing dilemma to address up front. Viktor Gyokeres has been back in the squad for their last three league games after recovering from a hamstring injury and on each occasion, the Arsenal boss has kept his faith in Mikel Merino up top. Gabriel Jesus’ bright outing against Club Brugge also threatens to complicate the Swede’s situation.
Wolves have collected just two points from their opening 15 games, shipping 33 goals in the process. With that in mind, tonight could be the perfect opportunity for Gyokeres to rediscover some confidence in front of goal.
Arsenal XI to face Wolves – Metro prediction
Late decisions will be made on a number of players, including Timber and Rice, but in attack, Arteta was able to rotate at will midweek.
Expect Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze to come back into the side while there could be a second start in a week for Myles Lewis-Skelly if Arteta has to tinker with his backline again.
Arsenal vs Wolves kick-off time, TV channel and live stream
Arsenal vs Wolves kicks off tonight (Saturday 13 December) at 8pm.
You can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1 with streaming also available through the Discovery+ app.
Or you can follow all the action with Metro’s LIVE blog.
