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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 14
Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Emirates Stadium
London, England
Saturday, 2 December 2023
Kick-off is at 17h00
Arsenal will be hoping to retain top spot in the
Premier League when they welcome Wolves to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, December 2.
The Gunners climbed to the summit for the first time this season when they beat Brentford 1-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium on November 25 to go above Manchester City (2nd) and Liverpool (3rd) in the standings.
It was a third win in four games for Mikel Arteta's side as they went a point clear of City, who played out to a 1-1 draw with the Reds at the Etihad Stadium.
Aston Villa moved up to fourth place courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Tottenham in the capital on November 26 which took them level with the Merseyside giants on 28 points.
Image copyright: Getty Images
Wanderers have recovered from a poor start and a dramatic 2-1 win over Spurs at Molineux on matchday 12 lifted them up to 12th position, one point outside the top 10 and 10 clear of the relegation zone.
Gary O'Neil's side have only lost one of their last five matches ahead of the trip to Fulham on November 27 and can go as high as 10th if they claim all three points at Craven Cottage.
Bukayo Saka is having another influential season for the North Londoners as he set up Kai Havertz to score a last-minute winner against the Bees with a sumptuous cross to the back post. It was the winger's fifth assist of the campaign to go along with his four goals in 12 league appearances.
Pablo Sarabia has struggled to break into the first team under O'Neil. but did his chances the world of good after stepping off the bench to score a a quality equaliser against the Lilywhites before slipping in Mario Lemina to net a last-gasp winner. The Spanish winger has started just two games this term and remained on the bench six times before opening his account at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Arteta admitted the late win at Brentford would live long in his memory as it was his 200th game in charge of the club.
"Today was a special day for me, for the staff, 200 games for this incredible club. I'm really going to remember this day for a lot of reasons but especially for the chemistry that the team shows between them," the Spaniard said.
"You know how sensitive we are with the emotional state of each of them. The relationship that we have with our supporters and obviously the fact that we won the game and we are top of the league."
O'Neil believes his players are getting a better understanding of how he wants them to function, although he acknowledges there are still plenty of areas where they can improve.
"They're much better at it. The starting point is definitely closer to where we want it to [be] than obviously when we were preparing for Manchester United. We did some stuff and I was impressed with the understanding," he said.
"Most of the performances have shown, at least in some of the games, they have an understanding, but you still want every moment on the grass with them to keep improving. You see things every day that you like to correct."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Arsenal - 4
Wolves - 1
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 14 fixtures:
Saturday, December 2
17h00: Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers
17h00: Brentford v Luton Town
17h00: Burnley v Sheffield United
19h30: Nottingham Forest v Everton
22h00: Newcastle United v Manchester United
Sunday, December 3
16h00: Bournemouth v Aston Villa
16h00: Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h00: Liverpool v Fulham
16h00: West Ham United v Crystal Palace
18h30: Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur
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