Arsenal will travel to Wolves with no new injury issues after Wednesday’s Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton.
As things stand, the Gunners have just two players in the treatment room; Takehiro Tomiyasu is trying to recover from a muscular problem in time for the World Cup with Japan and Emile Smith Rowe is sidelined by groin surgery but should return in December.
Asked whether any of his squad are concerned about getting injured just days out from Qatar 2022 getting underway, Arteta made clear that the risk only increases if you allow yourself to think like that.
“We discussed that topic before and I always said to them, if you are thinking about an injury then probably it is going to happen,” he told his pre-game press conference.
“You don’t know if it’s going to happen today, the next day or the first day of preparation for the World Cup, so get it out of your mind, you are professional athletes, the risk is always there for you so do your job and if you commit yourself to everything you do, every action, the risk will be less.”
He also insists that for all the media hype in the last week, he’s been keeping his table-topping squad focused on their domestic responsibilities.
“Obviously this week there is a lot of talk, a lot of rumours, a lot of news but our focus has been on the game. We know that after that what is coming for some players is something extraordinary and special. It’s also an opportunity to reset and prepare.”
Wolves come into the match in the relegation zone but will be buoyed by the recent appointment of former Sevilla, Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui who officially takes over on Monday.
Arteta expects his compatriot to bring the good times back to Molineux but is also wary of what interim coach Steve Davis has been doing.
“He’s a great coach, his career talks for itself, what he did in Seville and in Portugal, what he did with the national team.
“He’s a really good coach and is from not far from where I live. I know him really, really well and hopefully after tomorrow he can have very successful period here.
“They [Wolves] are in a moment with very special circumstances, I think Steve has done a really good job.
“Looking at the games that they’ve played, obviously, we watched the midweek game that they played [against Leeds] and the game before [against Brighton] when they lost not really meriting to lose the game.
“Saturday night at their stadium, it will be busy and it will be a tough game.”
A win for the Gunners will ensure we remain top of the Premier League until Boxing Day when the action resumes following the World Cup.
One last push (until the next one!) Go out with a bang
Hopefully we can make the celebration police very angry again
This is a great time to play Wolves. They’re rubbish and could even go down in May. If we play anything like we did at Stamford Bridge we’ll thrash them.
3-0 to the Arsenal
I don’t know if they’re as bad as their start to the season indicated.
As MA said Sat night, along with their crowd, on the back of a nice win and with a new coach coming in, they’ll be up for it.
Chelsea were rubbish so that was comfortable. I doubt this will be comfortable. I don’t care if we win 6-5 as long we bag the 3 points!
Well, I think we made Chelsea look like rubbish.
You say tomahto I say tomayto
Either way isn’t it great to say that Chelsea are rubbish?
😁 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁
I would have liked it if they’d waited until next week to appoint Lopetegui. Not exactly a new manager bounce since he’s not in charge of the team yet, but it’s certainly more likely that they’ll be playing hard to impress him (in the stands) more than they would be for just an interim boss.
Easy, big man. On paper, yes we should; but the extra motivation of playing to impress a new manager is an intangible but very real factor to consider. United saw it first hand last week with Aston Villa.
We should win though, but it won’t be easy. An early goal would set the tone nicely.
So I get downvoted 1-10 for being POSITIVE about Arsenal?
What’s happening to the world?
Positive is one thing. Complacent is another. No game in the PL is ‘easy’, no win is guaranteed. But yeah, we’re more likely to win than not
FK the votes man. Say what you want and not what is popular or what ppl want to hear. Give your own opinion.
😄
Fats caring about votes!
What’s happening to the world?
It would be great to end the first part of the season with a win. We don’t really want to go into the break anything but top of the PL. I’d take (yet another) 1:0 which is becoming almost the norm for Arsenal now but, hopefully, we can do better than that at Wolves. A goal or two for Jesus wouldn’t do his confidence any harm.
Hopefully we can leave Steve Davis’s Wolves team absolutely snookered.
You had that joke cue’d up didn’t you
No more bad jokes please, I’ve had in off.
Ben “Whirlwind” White to score first half hattrick. Arsenal to put maximum break on Man Shitty. I will rack my cue. Good ebening .
3 points to give us enough cushion to keep the reds on top of the table.
We’re definitely in the frame for a title push. No time to rest – a few of the lads will soon have a break. And to finish: the title can only be won by a team with a cannon on it’s badge. Maybe not much quality, but look at the quantity!
Thankfully Costa is still suspended after his red card. He might not be the player he once was but still one can’t underestimate his potential for malice.
Costa is breathing a huge sigh of relief there is no possibility of having to face Holdinho!
Saliba’s and Gabriel’s ankles will be grateful.