With Manchester City having reduced Arsenal’s lead at the top of the English Premiership by a mere four points last week, the Gunners will get another chance to increase their tally when they face embattled Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) at the Molineux Stadium. Kick-off is at 10pm (SA time).
Last week Thursday, Arsenal dropped two points when they drew 1-1 with Brentford, allowing Manchester City to reduce the Gunners’ points at the summit of the league table.
Arsenal had been touted as the favourites to finally grab the league title. But City have launched another title chase. City’s plan is to topple them from the top of the mountain, something they have managed to do in recent seasons.
With the Sky Blues not in action, Arsenal have a great chance to pull away from City against the struggling Wolves who are anchoring the league from the bottom. Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta issued an update on the fitness of his squad ahead of their trip to Molineux.
Riccardo Calafiori fit for game
Riccardo Calafiori missed out on the Gunners’ 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup on Sunday. He pulled out of the starting XI after sustaining a knock in the warmup. But the boss eased any worries over a potential injury.
“He’s fine, he was training with us today,” Mikel told www.arsenal.com on Tuesday. “He’s feeling better and hopefully he’s fit for the game.”
Another potential concern coming off the back of the FA Cup victory was of Ben White. He had to be withdrawn in the second half of the tie, but like Riccardo, Ben avoided any lasting damage.
“It was just a bit of fatigue, obviously he did a lot in the game. By the end of it, he was feeling a bit of tightness in the hamstring, but he’s fine.”
While Riccardo and Ben will both be available to face Wolves tonight, midfielders Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz won’t be fit in time for the contest. But they could return for Sunday’s north London derby.
“Kai is the other one that again, for the weekend is a possibility. So looking forward to having him in the squad.”
Spate of injuries
As well as reporting on the team news for Wednesday’s game, Mikel was also asked about the spate of injuries they’ve picked up in pre-match warmups this season.
“They were very different. The first one was with Wilo when he rolled his ankle against Liverpool. Then we had two incidents with Ricky in the warm-up in a really similar way.
“Then one with Bukayo Saka after he rested in midweek and didn’t play against Kairat and then against Leeds. He had that incident, very unusual. Probably happened once or twice. I think in the six years that I’ve been here. And it happened four times there. So obviously we are looking into it,” he added.
