Arsenal face Wolves on Wednesday after all four teams in the Champions League qualification race dropped points over the weekend.

The Gunners suffered a disappointing defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday, but they weren’t the only ones to mess up their chance to secure a top four spot. Chelsea could only draw from a winning position against Burnley, Manchester United were humiliated 4-0 by Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

It’s unlikely Unai Emery’s side will get so lucky a second time, so they have to try and take whatever they can from a very difficult fixture away to Wolves.

Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

Arsenal certainly missed Sokratis Papastathopoulos against Crystal Palace, and the good news is that he’s now back from suspension and available again. Even the most ardent Shkodran Mustafi fan would probably accept he deserves to be dropped for this one, and Sokratis will likely replace him.

Laurent Koscielny has to keep his place despite his busy workload recently, simply because no one better is available. Meanwhile, Nacho Monreal was rested over the weekend, so he should return to the starting lineup ahead of Konstantinos Mavropanos.

In goal, Bernd Leno will continue his run of league games, as he was one of Arsenal’s better players at the weekend. There wasn’t much he could do about the goals.

Midfield and Wing-Backs

Mustafi wasn’t the only player to perform poorly against Crystal Palace. Mohamed Elneny couldn’t have any impact on the game in midfield, and Carl Jenkinson was even less involved at wing-back. As a result, both of them should come out of the starting lineup, with the rested Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-Niles taking their places.

On the left, Sead Kolasinac will remain in the team. Meanwhile, the final central midfield spot will depend on the fitness of Granit Xhaka. The 26-year-old is being assessed ahead of the game, and if he’s fit he should come straight back in for Matteo Guendouzi. If not, Guendouzi will have to start once again.

It’s really a 50/50 call whether Xhaka is available, but we’ll assume one of Unai Emery’s captains will do everything he can to make it back in time. Aaron Ramsey is out injured, as is Joe Willock, who would’ve been a superior alternative to either central midfielder at the weekend.

Forwards

Unlike the rest of the team, Arsenal’s front three all contributed at least somewhat positively against Crystal Palace.

Alexandre Lacazette put in a solid all-around performance, and he capped it with a clever reverse pass to assist Mesut Özil. Özil scored his trademark finish and was the only player who looked like creating any chances. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasn’t particularly involved but his one driving run and finish gave Arsenal a chance.

They all had aspects of their game that were more disappointing, but with a stronger midfield behind them, they could’ve scored three or four. All three should start once again in Wolverhampton.

Denis Suarez is injured, so Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi will take their places on the bench once again. Eddie Nketiah should join them, and he’s been back in the goals with some impressive u23 performances again recently.

Full Predicted Starting XI