please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal travel to the Molineux stadium to take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in this premier league clash. The Gunners will go into this game on the back of a 1-0 win against Manchester City at the Emirates. A late Mikel Arteta strike saw the Gunners claim all three points, in what a vital game for both of those sides. Wolves will come into this game on the back of six straight league defeats. The latest defeat was against Stoke City away. Wolves took the lead thanks to Michael Kightly, but Stoke responded and Robert Huth levelled the scores before half-time. Peter Crouch headed home the winner for Stoke after the break and condemned Wolves to their sixth straight defeat in the league. It's a shocking run of form, and it has meant that Wolves are planted to the bottom of the league. They are six points adrift of QPR who sit just outside the relegation places. It would take, some turnaround from here if Wolves are to stay up. Arsenal got their five point lead over Chelsea and Newcastle United back thanks to their win against Manchester City. With both of those sides winning in the days before, Arsenal had to respond and they did. Arsenal also took advantage of a Spurs slip up at Sunderland, meaning they still remain in third place. Tottenham Hotspurs and Newcastle United have also played before the Gunners take to the field on Wednesday. The Toon kept their stunning form with a 2-0 win over Bolton, but Spurs have again slipped up and they dropped all three points after getting beat by Norwich at home. If Arsenal win, it will mean they will have a five point lead over Tottenham,Newcastle and Chelsea with five games left to play. Wolves will need a win if they are to salvage some hope of staying up. Wolves sacked Mick Mccarthy after being on the end of a 5-1 thumping from their bitter rivals, West Brom. Instead of replacing him with an experienced manager, they decided to appoint Terry Connor, a former assistant to Mccarthy, for the rest of the season. It was a shocking decision and Wolves have paid the price. Since Connor took over, Wolves have only managed to get one point out of a possible twenty one, and that point was achieved against Newcastle away. Wolves have lost all their home games under Connor and have shipped eight goals in their last two home games. Connor has also not being able to win the support of some of his senior players. Roger Johnson has lost all discipline off the pitch and has recently lost the captain's armband to Karl Henry. Steven Fletcher has been Wolves main man this season and he has scored goals against teams like Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. The former Burnely man has managed to get ten league goals this season. He is always a danger, especially on set pieces, so the Gunners will have to wary of Fletcher. Matt Jarvis, earned his first international cap last year, and the winger is one of their most dangerous players. A right footed winger that plays on the left and he likes to cut in, so Sagna will have to try and take him down the line and make him use his weaker foot. Jamie O'Hara has been ruled out for the rest season after undergoing surgery on a persistent groin injury. That was a huge blow for Wolves because he is the man that creates from midfield for them. Wolves have already managed to get a result against Arsenal this season, they earned a point against the Gunners at the Emirates in a 1-1 draw. Gervinho gave Arsenal the lead but it was cancelled out by a goal from Steven Fletcher. Wolves will looking for a repeat of that performance and maybe even more this time. Karl Henry has a had a few run ins with the Gunners since returning to the premier league. A player that pushes the boundary when it comes to tacking. He will more than likely go up against Thomas Rosicky, a player that has rediscovered his best form in recent months. His quick passing and dribbling, speeds up the Arsenal play and if can carry on his good form then it will make the team sustain the sort of play that was witnessed against the likes of Tottenham, AC Milan and Manchester City. Recently, Rosicky signed a two year contract at Arsenal and the fans have welcomed that news because the Rosicky that they have seen in recent weeks is a player who brings joy to Arsenal fans with his style of play. If Wolves want to disrupt Arsenal's flow then they will have to stop Rosicky. Laurent Koscielny picked up his tenth booking of the season against Manchester City, and that means he'll be out for the Wolverhampton and Wigan Athletic matches, although he'll be back for Chelsea. Johan Djourou is expected to come in as his replacement for those games. Djourou, has not many opportunities to start this season and when he has it's normally meant covering for an injured full back. So he gets his chance to show his worth through Koscielny's absence. Kieran Gibbs went off against Manchester City after picking up an injury, the left back was looking like he was finally capable of starting for a long run games before his latest injury. His injury will mean that Andre Santos will finally get his first start since recovering from ankle injury which kept out for nearly four months. The Brazilian defender showed plenty of attacking verve before his injury but was still finding his best defensive form. Mikel Arteta was brought in from Everton on the last day of the summer transfer window. It was seen as a panic buy, but Arteta has shown his class, especially in recent weeks. His ability to read the game is second to none and he keeps the game ticking with his passing. The Spanish midfielder has found the net six times this season in the league. His long range shooting has added a much needed element to Arsenal's attacking play. Arteta has also formed a very good partnership alongside Alex Song in the heart of the midfield. Robin Van Persie has not scored in four league games, for any other player that would not been seen as a drought but for Van Persie it has become one. Van Persie has never gone more than three league games without scoring this season. So the Dutchmen will be looking to end his mini-drought against Wolves this Wednesday. But the Gunners, have shown that they can win games now if Van Persie does not score. That was not the case earlier in the season. Arsenal will go into the game against Wolves looking to open up a five lead of their rivals in the chase for Champions league football, they need to make sure that they improve on their last away performance in order to achieve the three points needed to get some much needed breathing space from the chasing pack. Team News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Overall Record vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: Played: 111 Wins: 57 Draws: 26 Losses: 28 For: 215 Against: 160 GD: 55 Last 6 Meetings: Arsenal 1 - 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 - 2 Arsenal Arsenal 1 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - 4 Arsenal Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Fa Cup) please log in to view this image Mangers Views: (Will Be Updated) My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
No Kos at the back, I think our CBs will get tested, but we should have enough to come away with 3pts from this game.
Wolves have lost 6 straight I think - going there is not as difficult as when McCarthy was in charge. 6 points from the next 2 games would really ease the pressure the 3rd. The Wigan game will probably be harder than the Wolves game..
if chambo doesn't start i will be pissed. this is a perfect game for him to start building some form under little pressure. and he's awesome bit scared with JD, but he should do alright. he's only terrible at RB, at CB he's half decent.
Wolves are ok in attack... they are terrible in defence though and totally devoid of confidence. We need to however, guard against the dreaded C word. Hopefully the players have learnt their lesson from that QPR game.
Time for the team to get their heads down and concentrate on the three points. Anything else won't do.
We really should win this game, Wolves couldn't defend against an under 9's side. But i said the same about QPR, and look what happened there. On that basis, i'm going; Wolves:2 Arsenal:0
We will crucify wolves. (If we turn up .) If you know who starts , im gonna send strongly worded letter to the relevent parties. GIVE OXO A CHANCE .
A totally random post but i was in the same class in school with Steve Morgan the Wolves owner's sister
We need to score early and make the Wolves defence panic. I'm not usually over-confident but the way Wolves have been playing, I just can't see us messing this up. Put in a good performance and we could not only have a nice points buffer but also boost our goal difference.
It was before, but this really is a huge game. Win and we go five points clear of Tottenham and Newcastle and also seven ahead of Chelsea.
Anyone who says we're going to win easily obviously doesn't know the club very well. We have an irritating knack of fluffing our lines, if the club was an actor, we'd be in a low budget horror movie, whilst Manchester United would be winning numerous Oscars.
We have won 8 out of the last 9 games. That is pretty consistent form. QPR despite their position in table, had players that could hurt us and they did. We always struggle against Zamora and they still have players like Taarabt,Barton and Diakite. Not to mention the fact Hughes is their manager. Wolves on the other hand, have lost six games in a row and have a manager who is so far out of his depth it's untrue. I just think we will have far too much for them, especially with the likes of Rosicky,Walcott and RVP in attack.
I hope your right. I've suffered through Wengers Arsenal for too long to be optimistic about any away game.
Great thread as always. I feel for Terry Connor though, they threw him in at the deep end but we need those three points. I'm going for a 3-0 win to Arsenal.
This is do or die for Wolves. Lose and its bye bye..... A win would just give them some belief. We must not assume the Wolves will roll over and die like some over-fed poodles. Then we've got Wigan - also desperate for 3 points.
100% concentration, commitment and determination needed in every minute of every game at all times. The QPR game was a reminder of what can happen if we drop our level, even by a small margin.
