On Saturday afternoon, Premier League football will finally return to Emirates Stadium as Arsenal takes on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the opening match of the season.
After pushing Manchester City to the limit in back-to-back seasons, Mikel Arteta's team has its eyes for the league title. They scored their most points in 20 years last term, yet they were still two points behind.
Although Arteta's Arsenal is undoubtedly improving, the Gunners' preseason record was only damaged by two losses: a close loss to Liverpool and a penalty shootout loss to Manchester United, who they defeated in ninety minutes.
The Gunners have already participated in two Emirates matches this month. They first defeated Bayer Leverkusen, the German Invincibles, 4-1, and then defeated Lyon 2-0 in the most recent Emirates Cup, their fifth straight victory in their North London home, whether competitive or not.
Match Details: NAME: Arsenal vs Wolves DATE: Aug 17, 2024 TIME: 3pm UK VENUE: Emirates Stadium
Live Match
Arsenal vs Wolves Team News
Arsenal Team News
While Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring) will not be fit for Arsenal's Premier League opener, Arteta is crossing his fingers that Jurrien Timber, who tore his ACL on opening weekend last year, will recover from a foot injury to play, as well as hip victim Fabio Vieira.
The Gunners manager has a few choices at left back, including Riccardo Calafiori, who is expected to make his Premier League debut, but Oleksandr Zinchenko should start the season as the starting left back after his impressive preseason.
David Raya will play in his first competitive game since moving permanently from Brentford on Saturday.
Thomas Partey is expected to start at number six as Arsenal continues to try to buy Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad.
Wolves Team News
Nelson Semedo's red card in the final game of last season, a 2-0 loss to Liverpool, means the ex-Barcelona player will miss the first three games of the current season.
Semedo's suspension means that Matt Doherty and Pedro Lima, the new purchase, will compete to start at the Emirates. O'Neil expects that all of the injured players, including Matheus Cunha (hamstring), Daniel Podence (calf), Mario Lemina (thigh), and Jorgen Strand Larsen (groin), will be available.
While young winger Enso Gonzalez suffered a horrific ACL injury while playing for Paraguay at the Olympics and will require a prolonged recuperation period.