Arsenal chief coach Mikel Arteta has said that the club is actively looking for someone who can replace the goals that have been lost due to injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus.
Saka has not played anymore since he sustained a hamstring injury during the 5-1 victory of Arsenal over Crystal Palace in December, while Jesus was long-term absent after an injury to the front cruciate ligament in the FA Cup against Manchester United earlier in January.
As a result, the Gunners have remained short of the top and Arteta would like to correct that during the current transfer period.
“My opinion is clear,” he said during his press conference before the competition, prior to the confrontation with Wolves on Saturday.
“With Saka and Jesus we have lost two very important players. We miss goals, we miss people and we miss options. It is clear if we can get the right player.”
“That's why we look at it actively. Someone who makes us better. We need help.
“You have certain means, the ability to recruit certain players, to develop certain players, to use certain players from the academy. It is a balance of what we can do.”
Arteta also confirmed that mercenaries Neto and Raheem Sterling both would stay for the rest of the season, and said that the termination of one of them was “not an option”.
Wolves head coach Vorror Pereira has meanwhile pointed out how important it is that his players keep their standards high throughout the game.
They were beaten 3-1 against Chelsea on Monday, despite the fact that they were at 1-1 again on a stroke of half-time.
“We have to be consistent for ninety minutes,” said Pereira. “If we have moments with the ball and we try to play with the ball, we begin to create problems for our opponents.
“If we play close to our penalty area, this is a problem for us. They begin to create problems, put forward in the penalty area, second balls and game resumes. We have to improve our defense against game resumes.”
“We need more physicality and are more aggressive in duels.”
On Saturday again at home. pic.twitter.com/bdfddrta9f
– Wolves (@Wolves) January 22, 2025
Players to watch
Wolves – Matheus Cunha
Cunha has scored ten league goals for Wolves this season, accounting for 31% of their total number of goals in the competition (32).
The Brazilian scored three times in his last four gigs in Molineux, but only managed to score in the 4-2 defeat against Bournemouth at the end of November.
Arsenal-Leandro Trossard
Trossard was involved in three goals in his last two Premier League matches (1G 2A), the same as in his previous fourteen performances.
The Belgian was also involved in more goals against Wolves in the Premier League than against any other opponent (2G 6A).
Competition prediction: Arsenal win
Wolves ended up in this after they had lost three of the three league matches in 2025 and had received three goals in each of those matches.
They have also lost 18 of their last 20 Premier League matches against teams from the top two of the ranking, with the exception of the successive 2-1 victories in 2023 against Manchester City (September) and Tottenham (November).
Since they won the Dubbel van Arsenal in the 2020/21 season, Wolves have now lost each of their last seven games against the Gunners in the Premier League.
Only Liverpool (17) is currently unbeaten in the Premier League than Arsenal (12). However, the Gunners have not succeeded in keeping the zero in any of their last nine away games in the competition.
The Gunners have also won four of the four games against teams currently in the lower four of the Premier League.
Opta profit chance
Wolves – 16.9%
Draw – 21.7%
Arsenal – 61.4%
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