Wolves can go seventh with a win over Arsenal, who will be hoping to bounce back from defeat at the weekend. George Pitts looks at the betting.
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1pt Arsenal to score in the first half at evens
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Wolves v Arsenal
- Molineux Stadium, 1945 BST kick-off
Arsenal slipped up in their bid to finish in the Premier League's top four as their 10-match winning run at the Emirates came to an end on Sunday.
Unai Emery's side were beaten 3-2 by Crystal Palace, on a weekend where their top-four rivals Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United all dropped points.
A win at Wolves on Wednesday evening would put the north Londoners fourth and in the driving seat with three games to go, but it will not be easy.
Wolves will be looking to finish their first campaign back in the top flight strongly and a seventh-placed finish is in their sights and a real possibility. But Watford's late draw with Southampton means the Hornets are two points ahead of Nuno Espirito Santo's men, who then face the Hornets at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
After performing well against the Premier League's big six this term, they will be confident of getting something on the night here.
Betting guide
Prediction: Wolves 1-1 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 11/2)
A tough match to call but, considering the hosts' record at Molineux against the big six this season, the feeling is they can get at least a point. They shocked Man United here at the start of the month and Nuno's side are well versed at coping with top sides having also taken points from Man City and Chelsea on home soil. Emery's side were not great on the road against 10-men Watford last week and they will have to be on their game for the trip to Molineux.
Best bet: Arsenal to score in the first half at evens
Arsenal need to get their top four hopes back on track and, regardless of the result, the feeling is they can at least get on the score sheet. In Wolves' positive results in the above games, all three teams got on the score sheet. Wolves have been a pretty poor first-half team this term, scoring just 13 and conceding 21, while the Londoners have scored in the first half in eight of their last 10 Premier League outings. At evens, this looks a nice price and worth taking.
Stats: 10+ match shots on target at 11/8
Wolves could do with all three points ahead of a final end-of-season run-in if they are to finish best of the rest, while Arsenal need a win to move ahead of Chelsea in the race for the top four. With this in mind, both attacking sides should have plenty of attempts and at least 10 shots on target from both teams is not much to ask for with the quality on show here, so the odds-against price definitely appeals.
RequestABet: Jimenez and Aubameyang both to score and under 3.5 total goals
Opta stats
- Wolves have never beaten Arsenal in the Premier League in nine previous attempts (D2 L7), the most they have faced an opponent in the competition without victory.
- Arsenal haven’t lost against Wolves in any competition since September 1979 in a top-flight clash, winning 16 of the 20 meetings since (D4).
- Arsenal have won all four of their Premier League matches at Molineux; only at the KCOM Stadium (5) do they have a better 100% win rate at a particular ground in the competition.
- Wolves have already beaten Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham this season. Only two promoted sides have ever beaten at least four sides to finish that season in the top six in a single Premier League campaign – Sunderland in 1996-97 and Blackburn in 1992-93.
- Wolves have kept a clean sheet in three of their last five Premier League home games, as many as they had in their first 12 at Molineux this season. They’ve only conceded once in each of the other two games.
- Wolves are unbeaten in their last six Premier League home games (W4 D2). They last had a longer run without defeat in the top-flight between October 2003-January 2004, when Arsenal eventually ended their eight game unbeaten streak at Molineux.
- Arsenal won 1-0 in their last Premier League away game – they’ve not won back-to-back league games on the road since October, while they’ve not kept consecutive away league clean sheets since February 2016.
- All of Arsenal’s Premier League defeats this season have come on a Saturday or Sunday – they’ve won six and drawn two of their eight games played between Monday-Friday under Unai Emery.
- Wolves’ Raul Jimenez has been directly involved in seven goals in his 10 Premier League games against the top six Premier League sides this season, scoring four and assisting three.
- Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been directly involved in 10 goals in his eight Premier League appearances against promoted sides, scoring seven and assisting three. Five of those seven goals and two of the three assists have come away from home.
Odds correct as of 2030 BST on 23/04/19
