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Arsenal can extend their gap at the top of the Premier League when they return to action against Wolves this weekend.
The Gunners leapfrogged Manchester City at the summit following Kai Havertz‘s late winner in a 1-0 victory against Brentford last week.
Arsenal have been in inspired formGetty
Arsenal can build a four-point lead at the top the Premier League table with another win, with City not playing until a day later.
Mikel Arteta‘s men demolished RC Lens 6-0 in the Champions League in midweek and are now on a run of four successive victories.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Good omens
The north Londoners have a real chance to put down a marker at the top, with title rivals Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham all playing on Sunday.
Arsenal couldn’t have wished for a better opponent to face either, with the league leaders out for a fifth win in a row over Wolves.
The Molineux club have impressed under Gary O’Neil this season but a series of VAR controversies have seen them languish in mid-table.
Gabriel Jesus has managed just one Premier League goal this term but got back to scoring ways in Europe.
He also loves facing Wolves, having been involved in seven goals in his six Premier League starts against them.
Gabriel Jesus responds to Ivan Toney transfer talk
- Gabriel Jesus has been involved in seven goals in his six Premier League starts against Wolves (6 goals, 1 assist), scoring and assisting in Arsenal’s 5-0 win in this exact fixture last season.
- Bukayo Saka’s nine goals and assists have been worth nine points to Arsenal in the Premier League this season, with Saka assisting Kai Havertz’s winner at Brentford last time out. Only Erling Haaland’s goal involvements have been worth more points to his side this season (10).
- Only Mohamed Salah (11) has scored or assisted a goal in more different Premier League games than Wolves’ Hwang Hee-Chan (9) this season. Hwang hasn’t scored or assisted more than once in any game so far, with no player having more goal involvements without doing so more than once in a game (9, same as Bukayo Saka).
Jesus-862918743.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=960″ alt=”” width=”960″ height=”627″>Arsenal were in irresistible form during Wednesday night’s destruction of Lens at the EmiratesGettyArsenal vs Wolves: Team news
The home side have a number of injuries to contend with, as Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe and Jurrien Timber all remain sidelined.
Arsenal were also due to be without Fabio Vieira, as he is serving the second of a three-game domestic ban before he underwent surgery.
Wolves are unlikely to have Pedro Neto back from a hamstring issue but Craig Dawson is back from suspension.
Joao Gomes is still banned however, and Rayan Ait-Nouri is a doubt with an ankle knock.
Neto has been linked with a move to Arsenal but is currently injuredGetty
- Wolves have already won a Premier League game against the league leaders this season, beating Manchester City 2-1 in September. However, they’ve lost all six of their away games against sides in first place in the competition.
- Arsenal have scored in their last 31 meetings with Wolves in all competitions, since a 1-0 home loss in February 1979. If they score here, it will equal their longest scoring streak against an opponent in their history (current run of 32 against West Bromwich Albion).
Arsenal vs Wolves: What has been said?
Jesus has responded to criticism of his goalscoring amid Arsenal’s continued links to Brentford striker Ivan Toney.
Speaking after his goal in the win over Lens, Jesus said: “This happens you know, maybe it can be agents talking about a lot of things.
“I’m not the most experienced, but I think I have seen a lot of things in football. Sometimes it is like this, it happened when I was at City even with (Sergio) Aguero and me scoring. I was scoring a lot and people was linking everyone.
“So here, I don’t care about this. I know my qualities and I know what I can bring to the team. I can score and I can also help with other things, like opening spaces. But the only people who can see it are those who watch the game and understand.
“Those who don’t understand we will say that: ‘Oh he didn’t score today’. But maybe I run and open space for someone and, let’s be honest, I don’t miss a lot of chances. I think it is not about ‘he doesn’t know how to score’. Sometimes I have to be more in the box, that is the one thing I am working on.”
O’Neil and Wolves were on the wrong end of more incorrect VAR decisionsGetty
- Since losing 1-0 to Manchester United on MD1, Wolves have now scored in each of their last 12 Premier League games. It’s their second longest scoring streak in Premier League history, following an 18-game run between August and December 2019.
- Arsenal have won 50% of their Premier League games in December (86/172), only having a lower win rate in January (48.7%) and November (45.4%) between August and May in the competition. However, they’ve won their last six in December, their longest such run in the month in the Premier League.
- Arsenal have kept the most clean sheets (6) and conceded the fewest goals (10) of any Premier League side this season. Their 10 goals conceded is their fewest 13 games into a season since 2013-14 (also 10).
Arsenal vs Wolves: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League game will take place on Saturday, December 2.
Kick-off at the Emirates Stadium is scheduled for 3pm.
Unfortunately, this fixture will not be televised on UK screens due to the 3pm blackout in English football.
However, highlights will be available on the Sky Sports website and app shortly after the end of the match and then later on Match of the Day.
Updates will also be live on talkSPORT throughout the afternoon as part of our GameDay Live coverage with Adrian Durham, Scott Minto and Ray Parlour from 2:30pm.
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