Arsenal v Wolves early injury news as 3 out and 4 doubts

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored inside 13 minutes at the Emirates, and despite Matheus Cunha's late effort, it wasn't enough to mount a comeback. In the reverse fixture in April, Leandro Trossard opened the scoring before half-time and then Odegaard wrapped up the victory in stoppage time.

Wolves' record against Arsenal isn't the greatest and they've actually lost against them in their last six meetings. Their last win at the Emirates came in November 2020 when Pedro Neto put Wolves in front after Gabriel Magalhaes had cancelled out Daniel Podence's opener.

In the all-time opening day record table in the Premier League, Wolves are eighth with four wins, two draws and three defeats. With Gary O'Neil's contract renewal last week, will that good news help inspire them to a win at the weekend? Here before the pre-match press conferences take place, we take a look at the injury and team news ahead of Saturday.

Wolves team news

In Wolves' defeat to Rayo Vallecano, Gary O'Neil revealed that Jorgen Strand Larsen felt some discomfort prior to kick-off. He held a discussion with the Norwegian forward and he was able to play an hour, but he could be monitored.

Speaking to the Express & Star, O’Neil said: “Jorgen had a little issue in the warm-up with his groin which was a little frustrating, he felt he was ok to play and I was desperate not to risk him but he said he was fine, so we got him an hour and hopefully he’ll be ok.

Club captain Mario Lemina is another player that didn’t come through unscathed against Vallecano. He had a cramp issue, but thankfully it doesn’t seem to be much of an issue.

“Mario had a bit of cramp in his hamstring,” said O’Neil to the Express & Star.

“But we’ve had a really good pre-season and I’m frustrated because I didn’t want it to finish out like it did.”

“He’ll be back on the grass on Monday and should be back in training a day or two after that,” O’Neil explained.

In July, there was a worry that Matheus Cunha might not be fit for the season opener because of a hamstring injury. It forced him to miss the remaining games of pre-season, but he is expected to return to training this week.

O’Neil, speaking to the Express & Star added: “He’ll be available for Arsenal, we just have to see how much work he does between now and then to see how long he’ll be available for. If all goes to plan, I expect him to be in the squad for the weekend.”

Daniel Podence has been training in pre-season with Wolves after returning from a loan spell at Olympiacos, but missed the last leg of the US tour and Vallecano because of a calf problem. The 28-year-old has played in behind-closed-doors friendly, and despite his reappearance this summer, he is still expected to depart according to the E&S.

One confirmed absentee is Enso Gonzalez who suffered an ACL injury whilst representing Paraguay at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The 19-year-old had to be carried off on a stretcher at the end of July, and in response to his injury, Wolves' head of high performance Phil Hayward said surgery would be required Gonzalez began the rehabilitation process.

Nelson Semedo will miss the first game of the season through suspension. He was red carded against Liverpool on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign, and the club opted not to appeal against the decision.

Out: Enso Gonzalez and Nelson Semedo. Doubt: Daniel Podence and Jorgen Strand Larsen.

Arsenal team news

Jurrien Timber was out for the majority of the 2023/24 season with a serious knee injury that he sustained on his debut. The 23-year-old got minutes in their final game of the season but now a foot injury has impacted his return.

“It is fine,” said manager Mikel Arteta when asked about Timber.

“He’s been doing some individual work, that’s clear now and we expect him to be ready to train with the group in the next week because he has no reaction. Very positive.”

The bad news for Arsenal is that Takehiro Tomiyasu is set to miss the opening few weeks of the season at least. A knee injury forced Tomiyasu to miss all of pre-season, and having missed 13 games of last season, Arsenal are taking a cautious approach on the Japanese international.

“I think it will take weeks on that one, unfortunately, and poor Tomi because of everything that he does," said Arteta. “But he’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.”

Another potential absentee is Fabio Vieira, who was missing against Lyon on Sunday with a 'minor hip injury' according to Football.London. The timeline of his return is said to be unclear.

Out: Takehiro Tomiyasu. Doubt: Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber.