Wolves away a chance to extend the lead at the top

Morning.

Arsenal can go 7 points clear at the top of the Premier League this evening with a win over Wolves. The team news from Mikel Arteta was reasonably encouraging, with Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori declared fit, although Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz remain sidelined. The manager sounded an optimistic note about the captain’s availability for Sunday’s North London derby, and even said the German international was a ‘possibility’ but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.

I’m assuming Jurrien Timber will be back in the squad, having been rested for the FA Cup game, and it’s probable he’ll start at right back, and I’m going to guess it’ll be Piero Hincapie on the other side. Whatever took Calafiori out of the warm-up on Sunday might have been minor, but if he’s wanted for the derby, it might be prudent to be cautious with him later.

In midfield, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi should both return, then it’s about who fills the other spot. There’s been so much chat about Bukayo Saka in that position, and you can mark me down as someone who would be interested to see it again. Whether tonight is the night, we’ll have to wait and see, but if he does play there, there’s the possibility he can combine with his mate Noni Madueke who has 3 goals in his last 5 games. It looked, when he signed from Chelsea, as if it would be an either/or unless Madueke played on the left, but now there’s the potential for something new.

Asked about their connection and friendship in his press conference yesterday, and whether that can benefit players on the pitch, Arteta said:

It always does. Anyone who has played sports or worked with people in teams or those environments that you are willing to see, it’s much better in the morning with someone when you don’t even want to look at their face, so, it’s very pleasant – they enjoy the company and get along really well.

They’re constantly together, and there is some competition within the places, but the team benefits from that and they benefit from that as well.

Then again, there’s a man management issue with regards to Eberechi Eze to consider too. He was disappointing against Brentford, and taken off at half-time, but responded with a very good performance on Sunday. Yes, it was ‘only Wigan’, but if we’re allowed to be encouraged by what Saka did in that game, why doesn’t the same apply to Eze? After two assists, is there a case to be made that you help him build his confidence and rhythm further by keeping him in team?

Further forward, I expect Leandro Trossard to come back in, and there’s a choice to be made at centre-forward between Gabriel Jesus at Viktor Gyokeres. Wolves are likely to play with a back 3/5 and sit deep, trying to cause us the same problems as they did when they visited our place in December. We didn’t deal particularly well with it that day, Gyokeres struggled – completing just 3 of 6 attempted passes, but it was also at a point where his confidence appeared to be very low. He’s in better shape now, but perhaps the greater connectivity of Jesus might be the one to go with today from the start, knowing you can change it later if need be.

Given their league position and form, anything other than a win tonight would be profoundly frustrating. After a couple of games when Man City have played first and closed the gap, this is an opportunity for us to re-exert a little pressure and show our title credentials again. You take nothing for granted in the Premier League, but as I said, if we don’t come back to North London with all three points, it’d be a major, major disappointment as well as a shot in the arm for our title rivals.

Come on lads!

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A couple of other quick bits before we go. Arsenal yesterday announced a ticket price rise for the fifth successive year. As a non-season ticket holder and thus someone who isn’t directly impacted by this, I feel it’s better to defer to those who are. Andrew Allen has a piece on Arseblog News with some comment, and the Arsenal Supporters Trust have their response here.

We live in a world where everything is more and more expensive, including – it’s fair to say – football players in whom we have invested a lot over the last number of years, but with increased revenues from prize money, sponsorships and so on, it is a bit of a shame that yet again ticket prices have been increased. I don’t know what the top line is in terms of what it’s likely to be bring in, but for the decision makers and the accountants, it’s obviously worth more than any amount of goodwill.

It’s probably not a coincidence that a price rise was announced in tandem with an announcement that safe standing is to be implemented more widely next season, but of course these are two distinct stories. It’s a welcome move, in my opinion, standing at football creates a different dynamic, and credit to those groups who advocate for fans for their work over many years to have this properly addressed.

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Right, that’s your lot for this morning. As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage for you, all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News, and there’s a preview podcast on Patreon if you need something to listen to in the meantime. Our Patreon subscription, by the way, remains the same as when we launched it in 2018, no price rise here, regardless of inflation or investment in new personnel!

For now, have a good one, and I’ll catch you later for the game.