Arsenal travel to Molineux to face Wolves on Saturday night with the chance to secure their status as Premier League leaders during the imminent World Cup.
Given the wintry timing (rather than temperature) of the upcoming football bonanza, whoever ends the weekend in first place will hold that lofty position on Christmas Day. Arsenal haven’t been top while tucking into the turkey since 2007 when Leon Jackson’s When You Believe was Christmas number one in the UK charts.
Here’s the XI Mikel Arteta may deploy to foster the belief of a genuine title tilt from the Gunners.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – This season, Ramsdale has already kept five Premier League clean sheets away from home (a division high), the same tally he could muster across the entirety of the previous campaign.
RB: Ben White – While Gareth Southgate has seen enough to select White for England’s World Cup squad, it will take quite a month to match the affection Arteta has for his defender. “I really like him,” the Arsenal boss said last weekend. “He trains every single day and he plays under any circumstances. I love the boy.”
CB: William Saliba – After a consummate start to the season, Saliba has set his sights on emulating Arsenal’s past World Cup winners. “I want to be the next Frenchmen to do that, like [Robert] Pires or [Patrick] Vieira or [Thierry] Henry,” he said. Why not dream big?
CB: Gabriel – Every goal Gabriel has scored on European soil, for Lille and Arsenal, has come at a set-piece situation – with his last 11 in all competitions from corners.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – Vlada Zinchenko, a Ukrainian sports journalist married to the full-back, infamously criticised some of Pep Guardiola’s tactical decisions while her husband was at Manchester City. There has been little cause for complaint regarding Arteta this term.
CM: Martin Odegaard – Carlo Ancelotti was in charge of Real Madrid when a 16-year-old Odegaard arrived but he was not behind the transfer. “Furthermore, the president decided that he would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise,” Ancelotti wrote in his book Quiet Leadership. Odegaard’s role at Arsenal certainly extends beyond a PR stunt.
CM: Thomas Partey – As well as an octopus, Partey has had an image of himself inked on his arm. Not quite the same statement as a more literal face tattoo but a bold choice all the same.
CM: Granit Xhaka – The Swiss midfielder has been more cultured than combative this season but has been booked on all four of his previous trips to Molineux.
RW: Bukayo Saka – Arsenal’s 21-year-old starlet has received three Premier League yellow cards this season, yet only one player in the division has been booked for the 19 fouls Saka has received (per Orbinho).
ST: Gabriel Jesus – He may be in the midst of a barren patch for Arsenal but Jesus has scored five goals in his last five appearances against Wolves.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – On his last visit to Molineux, Martinelli received one of the more unique red cards in Premier League history as Michael Oliver awarded the Brazilian two bookings in the space of five seconds without any stoppage between the fouls.
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