Arsenal v Wolves preview: Gary O'Neil's defensive dilemma
Wolves could hardly face a tougher start to the season than what awaits them tomorrow.
A trip to Arsenal will be one of the hardest fixtures of the campaign for most teams, but Wolves are tasked with getting their season under way in style at the Emirates.
A positive pre-season ended with a disappointing loss to Rayo Vallecano at Molineux, in a moment Gary O’Neil described as a ‘reality check’.
Wolves must now carry that into their trip to the capital and O’Neil has a number of big decisions to make with his team.
In pre-season the head coach has evolved his Wolves side to play a back four, rather than a back five, as they attempt a more aggressive, front-foot approach.
That could be dangerous at Arsenal, who are masters at picking teams off, but it is hard to see Wolves adopting a different system when they have spent the whole of pre-season working on this one.
Instead, it is likely they will be fluid in their approach and in similar fashion to their friendly against West Ham, the left winger could drop deeper to create a makeshift back five when Arsenal are on the attack.
With the defence in mind, O’Neil’s biggest decision regards his centre-back choices.
Yerson Mosquera and Toti Gomes have been backed in pre-season with Craig Dawson and Santi Bueno clear understudies.
The reason being – alongside Dawson’s return from groin injury – is that Mosquera and Toti suit what O’Neil wants from his defenders.
They are quick, athletic and strong – meaning they can recover quickly from this high line and high press Wolves are using.
However, Mosquera has never kicked a ball in the Premier League and Toti, despite recent success, is still improving.
There will be a temptation to bring in Dawson due to his experience, but if Wolves stick with a back four then Mosquera and Toti are the current clear choices.
It is also an opportunity for the pair to prove what they can do against one of the best teams in the league.
At right-back, Nelson Semedo’s suspension following his red card at Liverpool on the final day of last season, means Matt Doherty is likely to be chosen over young new signing Pedro Lima.
Wolves are also hopeful that Matheus Cunha will be available following a hamstring issue in pre-season, but any involvement is expected to be from the bench.
The Brazilian rejoined training this week, alongside Boubacar Traore, who missed pre-season due to playing in the Olympics with Mali.
Meanwhile, Goncalo Guedes could make the squad this weekend.
The forward has been given an opportunity in pre-season and done relatively well playing as a number nine.
Although he could still depart before the end of the transfer window, he may play some minutes off the bench tomorrow.
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