Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Wolves: two major changes made as £77m duo return to starting XI

Arsenal will be desperate to avoid falling even further behind in the Premier League title race when they travel to face Wolves on Saturday evening. The Gunners suffered an unexpected 2-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend, and now find themselves two points adrift of leaders Manchester City with six games left to play.

To worsen matters, Mikel Arteta’s men also crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday night, losing 3-2 to Bayern Munich on aggregate over the course of two legs. That result now means that Arsenal’s only chance of silverware this season remains a league title, but dropped points at Molineux could seriously dent any hopes of their two decade wait coming to an end next month.

As for Wolves, they drew 2-2 with Nottingham Forest last weekend, and have failed to win any of their last four top flight outings. Heading into the weekend, they lie 11th in the table with 43 points to their name.

But how will the two sides line up in the Midlands on Saturday night? We’ve taken a closer look at their respective team news and predicted XIs below...

Arsenal Team News

Arsenal are fortunate enough to boast a relatively clean bill of health at the time of writing, with Jurrien Timber remaining their only absence. The Dutch defender suffered an ACL injury on the opening weekend of the campaign, and has been working towards a comeback ever since. Speaking about his progress at the beginning of April, Arteta said: 'He’s doing very well; he’s back training. He’s not far off, but the thing is that last step. He hasn’t played any minutes, so does he need a game with the U21s. I think he has a good chance [of playing again this season].' Other than that, Arsenal have a full contingent to pick from this weekend.

Arsenal Predicted XI

David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.

Wolves Team News

For their part, Wolves are facing a couple of definite absences and a handful of potential doubts this weekend. Influential winger, and long-term Arsenal target, Pedro Neto is expected to be out until May at least, with manager Gary O’Neil stating in mid-March: 'It was nine weeks last time. It could be quicker, [or] it could be longer. It didn't feel serious at the time, but if there's tendon involvement, the rehab can take a lot longer. He's still young, and he's devastated. It's important to get him back right.'

Elsewhere, experienced defender Craig Dawson defender is likely to miss out, with O’Neil floating the idea of the centre-back undergoing ‘some sort of surgery’ last week. There is, however, more promising news regarding Rayan Ait-Nouri, Nelson Semedo, and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, with all three hopeful of returning to the match day squad ahead of Arsenal’s visit to Molineux.

Wolves Predicted XI

Jose Sa; Santiago Bueno, Max Kilman, Toti Gomes; Nelson Semedo, Tommy Doyle, Mario Lemina, Rayan Ait-Nouri; Joao Gomes; Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Cunha.