Arsenal predicted lineup vs Wolves: Smith Rowe or Martinelli in 4-3-3?

Arsenal round off the month of February with a second meeting with Wolves inside a fortnight as they play hosts for Thursday’s Premier League clash. Here is the predicted lineup.

The scorelines may not paint a comfortable picture but the bottom line is that Arsenal have a perfect record so far from their 17 cup finals. Sadly they’ve only competed in 11.7% of them.

Wolves at the Emirates Stadium is vital, as while ‘six-pointers’ often refer to relegation battles, in some ways this has similar implications. With both vying for a top four spot in the table, victory would see Arsenal build a healthy cushion of five points between themselves and Bruno Lage’s with a game in hand.

Having beaten them last time out at Molineux there will be confidence in the home side, with plenty of the focus now on what team will Mikel Arteta select.

Arsenal predicted lineup vs Wolves: Will Arteta select Emile Smith Rowe or Gabriel Martinelli in his 4-3-3 shape?

The big decision lies in the forward line where the returning Gabriel Martinelli from suspension will be eyeing up his spot out on the left. But can you take Emile Smith Rowe out of the side after a goalscoring performance against Brentford?

There are strong calls for Alexandre Lacazette to be dropped, yet at this stage it would take a remarkable dip in form for the manager to consider axing the captain.

Another interesting decision to make is at right-back. Takehiro Tomiyasu is back fit and firing, and was not risked as a substitute in the 2-1 win over the Bees. In his place was Cedric Soares, who somewhat surprisingly has put in two of his better performances for the club in his last two outings.

Arteta made a similar call earlier in the season when Nuno Tavares earned his spot ahead of Tierney, so might he looks for similar healthy competition in a position few expected there to be any?

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – Should we be a little concerned? Ramsdale appeared to be back to his best against Wolves only to have a mediocre game with the ball at feet against Brentford. He’s still the undisputed number one, mind you.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (RB) – Arteta will absolutely be considering keeping Cedric in the team. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him use Tomiyasu as a substitute late on, but his height is a key attribute when combating Wolves’ sweeping diagonal balls so he should get the nod.

Benjamin White (CB) – It’s going under the radar just how excellent White has been this season. He isn’t getting the praise he deserves while Tyrone Mings drops a clanger every week and that fridge up in Manchester continues broadening the spectrum of calamity.

Gabriel (CB) – Received praise for his Brentford display but there were some worrying aspects too. His distribution out from the back was quite sloppy and it played the visitors in too often. Needs to clean that up a bit.

Kieran Tierney (LB) – It is interesting for Tierney to see who lines up on the left of the attack, as it does impact how he gets forward and where he receives the ball. It’s a slightly newer role for him in the 4-3-3.

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