Rob Edwards’ Wolves are preparing for another Saturday 8pm kick-off in the capital this weekend, and wolves.co.uk has previewed the trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
1 | Roll Call
Following a suspension which kept him out of Monday evening’s Premier League defeat to Manchester United at Molineux, Joao Gomes will be back in contention for Edwards ahead of the trip to north London. Marshall Munetsi is currently being treated for a calf injury, so it was fortunate that defender Ladislav Krejci returned from his own injury just in time to take Gomes’ place in midfield, while Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – who can also play in midfield – was taken off with a hamstring injury shortly after scoring on Monday night. Bellegarde has been one of the key players for Edwards on the left of the front three, having started the last three games, but Edwards confirmed his absence is likely to be for the next six weeks and could give the likes of Hee Chan Hwang or Fer Lopez the opportunity to come into the side, or the head coach could bring Gomes back into a midfield three alongside Krejci and Andre for Saturday’s clash with Arsenal.
Injury problems continue to mount for Mikel Arteta, with Jurrien Timber missing Wednesday’s Champions League win against Club Brugge. Fellow centre-back William Saliba was also not ready to return in midweek, and with Gabriel (adductor) and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) both out, Christian Norgaard had to play as an emergency defender. However, Arteta is expecting to have both Timber and Saliba back for the visit of Wolves. Arsenal are also without Leandro Trossard (calf), Max Dowman (ankle) and Kai Havertz (knee), while Declan Rice also missed the trip to Belgium due to illness but is expected to be an option on Saturday.
2 | The Stat Pack
Goals
- Jorgen Strand Larsen | 3
- Bukayo Saka | 7
Assists
- David Moller Wolfe | 2
- Declan Rice | 6
Biggest win
- Wolves 2-0 Everton | September 2025
- Arsenal 5-0 Leeds | August 2025
Yellow cards
- Joao Gomes | 6
- Martin Zubimendi | 6
Clean sheets
- Sam Johnstone | 1
- David Raya | 13
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 12, 2025
3 | Journey to Saturday
Wolves head to the Emirates on Saturday night aiming to pull off of the shock of the season so far. Edwards’ side are still sat bottom of the Premier League standings on just two points from their opening 15 matches, and will take on a Gunners side – riding high at the top of the table – away from home hoping to claim their first win of the campaign. However, Wolves have been in this position before throughout their history, having achieved remarkable victories against the team in 1st when they were sat in 20th. Only four times in Premier League history has the team at the bottom of the league beaten the team at the top, but two of those four have been Wolves, who beat Man United at Molineux in both January 2004 and February 2011.
Arsenal bounced back from only their second defeat of the season against Aston Villa last weekend with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Noni Madueke scored twice before Gabriel Martinelli secured the win which extended the Gunners’ lead at the top of the Champions League table, following six wins from six. Arteta’s team also lead the way in the Premier League, two points clear of second placed Manchester City, thanks to 10 wins and two draws, while having conceded just the nine times so far this season.
4 | Winning at the Emirates came at a cost
Wolves took all three points away from Arsenal for the first time in more than 40 years in November 2020 as Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence found the net for the Old Gold, but the game will be forever remembered for the fractured skull sustained by Raul Jimenez.
Just five minutes into the contest at the Emirates, Jimenez was knocked unconscious after clashing heads with David Luiz as the Mexican attempted to defend a corner, causing the striker to be stretchered from the pitch. Following almost a whole year out of action while he recovered from his injury, Jimenez eventually returned to pitch in the summer of 2021.
Despite seeing their talismanic striker suffer a serious head injury, the Wolves players battled on that evening in north London, with Neto opening the scoring with a low drive inside the area before Gabriel equalised for the Gunners with a header moments later.
However, Podence put Wolves back ahead just before the break, and spent the second half battling as hard as they could to claim a rare away win against Arsenal.
Arsenal | Leno, Bellerin, Luiz (Holding 46), Gabriel, Tierney, Ceballos, Xhaka (Lacazette 81), Willock, Willian (Nelson 65), Aubameyang, Saka.
Wolves | Patricio, Semedo, Boly, Coady, Marcal, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Podence (Neves 70), Traore, Neto, Jimenez (Silva 15) (Kilman 78).
