Arsenal welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Emirates in our last match of the season, with little left to play for for either team, although Julen Lopetegui’s team may be determined to end the campaign on a positive note after only drawing 1-1 with Everton in their final home fixture.
While Wolves have secured their safety from relegation, they still have an opportunity to secure 12th place. A victory at the Emirates Stadium would allow them to leapfrog Chelsea and secure additional prize money, provided that the Blues lose to Newcastle United.
On the other hand, Arsenal has nothing more to gain, as they are already guaranteed to finish ahead of Manchester United but behind champions Manchester City.
But the fact is that Arsenal owe a big win to their home fans, after losing 0-3 dismally to Brighton last time out, in which was their worst performance of this season at the Emirates, and the supporters were so annoyed they were leaving the ground in droves to register their frustration at the way the Guners dropped out of the title race. If they want the fans to give them a good send off they will have to up their game and give us some hope that we can maitain our title challenge for longer in the next campaign.
In terms of team news, Wolves have the advantage, with only two players expected to be unavailable for the match as long-term absentees Sasa Kalajdzic and Chiquinho will be out.
In contrast, Arsenal will have several absentees, including maybe Reiss Nelson, who missed the defeat against Nottingham Forest due to illness. Injury concerns persist for Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Mohamed Elneny, who all remain sidelined, although Elneny is back in training.
Additionally, the Wolves boss Lopetegui will be in the stands as he serves a one-game touchline ban after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season against Everton.
But all that may be irrelevant because the facts state that Arsenal have won their last game of the season for the last 7 years, and haven’t actually been beaten since a 2-1 loss at Birmingham City in 2005, while Wolves have lost their last 5 attempts to win their last game.
So it is little surprise that you can go on Betway and get a massive 6/1 for Wolves to win this game, while Arsenal are a very short-priced 1.37, but I would think many Arsenal fans will be very worried right now considering the Gunners recent collapse in their title charge.
But fingers crossed, the Gunners will cheer their fans up before the summer break, and give us all some hope ahead of the next campaign….
Having already secured 2nd i think Arteta will once again play Tierny as an inverted leftback.
I suspect Arteta wants to introduce an inverted rightback setup next season as an alternative to the inverted leftback setup. With an inverted leftback setup we will see a conventional right fullback on the other side which is Tomiyasu or White. If we play the inverted rightback setup then Tierny or Tavarez will play.
– My guess is that Arteata will recruit a specialist inverted rightback this summer.
If this happens we will need a midfielder, (on the right side), who goes forward like Xhaka does. Caicedo comes to mind. Partey can also do this but i think the holding midfield role suits him better in the inverted leftback setup.
– Our creative attacking midfielder, Odegaardt, will shift over to the left. Or to give Odegaardt rest i think Veira Or ESR will be used in this setup.
– Our holding midfielder & replacement for Xhaka if he leaves is still up for debate. RICE seems to be the frontrunner.
By employing 2 setups throughout the season it will afford the coach more luxury to rotate players without sacrificing our style of play and identity albeit a “different setup”.
MY TEAM
White, Holding (possible last match), Kiwior, Tierney (plm)
Partey, Odegaardt, Xhaka(plm)
EsR, Nketiah, Trosard