Wolverhampton v Arsenal Preview: Which Arsenal side will turn up at Molineux?

Being kicked a few times won’t stop Sagna from playing.

The last time Arsenal faced a team in the relegation zone, they lost. This time around, the gap is even wider. It was 3rd against 18th then, today it’s 3rd against 20th. Wolverhampton Wonderers are the opponent for tonight and given the form that both teams are in and their position in the league, this should be nothing less than a win for Arsenal.

Wolves were in a rut even before the departure of Mick McCarthy. Though the plan to fire McCarthy and not have a successor in place is plain ridiculous. The inexperienced Terry Connor was promoted and installed as the new boss but that was never going to work. That is because Connor was also part of McCarthy’s coaching team and the way Wolves play on the pitch didn’t change.

Wolves have only garnered one point out of their last seven games. That is relegation form. It is no coincidence where they are in the league right now. They do not have a strong back line, and that Sebastian Bassong is there on loan, did not help them either. Emmanuel Frimpong was playing for Wolves on loan but he succumbed to injury that has ended his season early. Stephen Hunt, Jody Craddock and Jamie O’Hara are also out injured for this game. The last one being a crucial creative link in Wolves midfield.

Arsenal could only manage a draw in their last meeting with Wolves. The one where Nenad Milijas was harshly sent off. Arsenal couldn’t find the breakthrough that day, at a period where they had no full-back. Arsenal’s last meeting at the Molineux saw them score an early and a late goal. Both of them coming via Marouane Chamakh, who has now been limited to just making a brief appearance when they are really desperate to score.

Chances of Chamakh featuring tonight is not even slim, it’s practically zero. Robin Van Persie will lead the team in the attack as he has been all season. The captain has not hit the back of the net in four matches now. However, it doesn’t hide the fact that he might be in need of a little rest. Perhaps 45 minutes off here and there. Let’s not forget that his body is practically experiencing being fit for an entire season, for the first time in his career. Establish a good lead tonight and a chance to give him a breather might just come.

To do that, Arsenal need their defending to be as resolute as it was on Sunday. Not an easy task considering half of the back line from the City game would not be involved tonight. Laurent Koscielny is out suspended after picking up too many yellow cards. His calm and magnificent reading of the game will be sorely miss. Johan Djourou gets another chance to make amends for his mistakes earlier in this season. Kieran Gibbs is the other player who would not feature in this game. Andre Santos will start for the first time since his return from four months of recovery. While it’s not ideal, it is still good that we would have Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen in between these two replacements.

SzczesnySagna—Djourou—Vermaelen—SantosArteta—Song—RosickyWalcott—Van Persie—Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsene Wenger spoke about the importance of the role that Yossi Benayoun plays in the squad and especially in that win over City. There’s no question that the Israeli did really well in that match and worked diligently to help Arsenal’s cause. It puzzles me that he doesn’t get as many games as some other players, but it is also evident that others do provide much more in the attacking sense in the final third. It is precisely because of that and the nature of Wolves defending this season, that I think tonight might see the return of Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain to the starting line-up.

AOC has not been given a continuous run in the first team despite excelling in those games that he has been picked, bar one or two off days. Wenger is definitely trying to protect the prodigious talent. Not from a burn-out but more likely to cool the expectations that were built on him and also probably in an attempt to keep AOC level headed. Gervinho was not seen on Sunday and if he’s perfectly fine, I think the Ivorian would start. Otherwise it’s AOC.

Mikel Arteta is right, we can’t waste what Arsenal have achieved thus far. That means Arsenal cannot slip from the position they are currently in. There is now an opportunity for Arsenal to widen the gap.