Wolves vs Arsenal: Unai Emery expecting no favours in race for Champions League places

A rare home defeat against Crystal Palace has left the Gunners scrambling for a top-four finish

Unai Emery is not expecting any favours from Wolves on Wednesday night as Arsenal continue to fight for a place in the Premier League top four.

A rare home defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace on Sunday has left the Gunners on the periphery of the Champions League positions, sitting fifth and a point behind rivals Chelsea as they head to Molineux for their game in hand.

Wolves have lost at Southampton and drawn 0-0 at home to relegation-threatened Brighton since losing their FA Cup semi-final to Watford.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are in a squabble to finish seventh, a position which could yet yield a place in the Europa League next season.

Emery, who has also guided Arsenal to a Europa League semi-final meeting with Valencia, admits seeing the fight from every team in the division is something he discovered very soon into his managerial career in England and expects a tough evening in the West Midlands.

“I don’t think so,” Emery replied when asked if the Wolves players could now be on the beach.

“They are going to push a lot tomorrow. I worked one thing here very quickly – we are playing against all of the teams and they want to battle us, fighting and playing with a big motivation.

James McArthur secured a 3-2 victory for Crystal Palace over Arsenal last week (Reuters)

“One is the motivation in the table for each player and one is the motivation against Arsenal. Every team wants to battle us because they respect us and also because it’s important to try to win against us.”

Emery, who usually offers up a team news update at his pre-match press conference, changed tact ahead of the Wolves game and kept his cards close to his chest.

Granit Xhaka could come back into contention following a hip injury with fellow midfielder Denis Suarez also being assessed following a groin complaint.