One of the pick of the Premier League fixtures this weekend takes place at Molineux as Wolverhampton Wanderers meet Arsenal. The hosts are in a strong position in the league and begin the weekend just 2 points off the top four. Arsenal are 6 points behind their opponents in the table and a win could close the gap to just 3 points.
Wolverhampton Wanderers picked up maximum points in their previous game as they defeated local rivals Aston Villa 1-0 away from home. It was another solid performance by Wolves who have managed to win each of their 3 games following the lockdown. In addition to the win over Aston Villa, Wolves have defeated West Ham United 2-0 away from home and Bournemouth 1-0 at home.
Trends show Wolves are undefeated in their last 6 matches in all competitions. That run includes an excellent 3-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, a 0-0 draw at home against Brighton and a 1-1 draw at Olympiakos in the Europa League.
Wolves home form in the Premier League shows they have lost only one of their last 7 games and that defeat came against the champions, Liverpool. Since that loss, Wolves have only managed to score an average of one goal per game at home in the Premier League across 4 matches. However, they have been superb defensively and Wolves have kept a clean sheet in each of their last 4 home Premier League games.
Arsenal had no problem cruising past Norwich City on Wednesday night as they won the game 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The victory came on the back of a good 2-1 win at Sheffield United in the FA Cup and 2-0 victory at Southampton in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta will be hoping the hat trick of wins will spur them on for the rest of the season and they can qualify for Europe.
However, despite picking up maximum points at Southampton, Arsenal have a poor away record in the Premier League. Trends shows The Gunners have won only one of their last 8 away Premier League matches. There have been defeats at Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion since they returned to action following the lockdown. Prior to the suspension of the Premier League, Arsenal were drawing a lot of away games, picking up a point at Everton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Burnley.
Arsenal have kept only 2 clean sheets in their last 7 away Premier League games.
Team news and Wolverhampton Wanderers continue to have a clean bill of health and no suspensions. Adama Traore may come into the team having started on the bench against Aston Villa.
Arsenal will be without the injured Bernd Leno, Calum Chambers, Gabriel Martinelli and Pablo Mari. They also have doubts over the fitness of Lucas Torreira and Mesut Özil.
This is expected to be a close game and we could see under 2.5 goals scored. With the home advantage, Wolves will fancy their chances of picking up maximum points against an Arsenal team who have been struggling on the road, but the game will likely end in a draw.