After three successive away fixtures, Wolves are back to Molineux on Saturday afternoon as Vitor Pereira’s side take on Arsenal, and wolves.co.uk looks at what is in store for the Old Gold this weekend.
1 | Roll Call
Vitor Pereira has been boosted by the return of Toti ahead of the Arsenal clash. The defender hasn’t played this calendar year and, although he’s not fit for 90 minutes, the Portuguese is expected to be involved. Yerson Mosquera, Enso Gonzalez and Sasa Kalajdzic remain sidelined with long-term injuries. Should he be selected, Emmanuel Agbadou will make his Molineux debut.
Mikel Arteta says he’ll assess the fitness of William Saliba [thigh] and Myles Lewis-Skelly [knee] before naming his team, with the pair a possibility to make the game, but certainly next week’s Manchester City clash. Bukayo Saka has scored or assisted 22 goals this season, but is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, while fellow attacker Gabriel Jesus will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Ben White is also out with a knee injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu will also miss the trip to Molineux.
2 | The Stat Pack
Goals
- Matheus Cunha | 10
- Kai Havertz | 14
Assists
- Goncalo Guedes | 5
- Bukayo Saka | 13
Biggest win
- Leicester 0-3 Wolves | December 2024
- Crystal Palace 1-5 Arsenal | December 2024
Cards
- Nelson Semedo | 7
- Jurrien Timber | 6
Clean sheets
- Jose Sa | 3
- David Raya | 12
3 | Journey to Saturday
After starting so brightly, the Pereira era at Molineux has taken a hit in recent weeks with the Old Gold now four games without victory in the top flight, with the FA Cup success over Bristol City their only win in 2025. The visit of Arsenal comes in the middle of another tough run of fixtures, which sees Wolves take on seven of the teams in the top eight over the first seven games of the year – only missing Manchester City, however defeats – and three goals conceded – in the last three against Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Chelsea mean Pereira’s side need to start picking up points fast if they are to avoid dropping back into the relegation zone.
It’s been a busy start to the new year for Arteta’s side, who have had FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League football to contend with alongside their Premier League fixtures, and although they tasted defeat in both cup competitions to Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively, they are yet to experience defeat in the top flight. Wins over Brentford and Tottenham as well as draws against Brighton and Aston Villa – which saw the Gunners throw away a two-goal lead in the final 30 minutes last weekend – have seen them maintain their place as the best of the rest behind league leaders Liverpool, while spirits will be high after a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Champions League matchday seven on Wednesday evening.
4 | First Molineux win over the Gunners in 40 years
With a spectacular first season back in the top flight nearing the end for Wolves, they had one final scalp in their locker in April 2019, with the Gunners comfortably beaten at Molineux for the first time since 1978. Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota were both on target in a blockbuster display before half-time, but not before Ruben Neves had expertly opened the scoring with a free-kick. Doherty then headed home the second and Jota added a third during a thrilling first half for the home side. Sokratis Papastathopoulos pulled a goal back for the Gunners late on, but it was Wolves claiming the points under the lights.
Wolves | Patricio, Doherty, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Jonny, Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho (Gibbs-White 90), Jota (Cavaleiro 78), Jimenez (Traore 83).
Arsenal | Leno, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Torreira (Guendouzi 59), Xhaka, Mkhitaryan (Kolasinac 59), Ozil, Iwobi (Nketiah 71), Lacazette.
