Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Gary O’Neil stylishly predicts 1-0 win against Arsenal
Arsenal kick off the 2024-25 Premier League campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 17 at Emirates Stadium, and they will be eager to begin the new season with a victory as every result counts.
The Gunners missed out on the title for the second term running to Manchester City in 2023-24 and are desperate to go one better this term.
A win against Wolves will be the perfect way to begin the new campaign for Arsenal, but the Midlands club have plans to leave Emirates Stadium with all three points, with their head coach Gary O’Neil stylishly predicting a 1-0 victory for his side.
“We are 1-0 up at the Emirates, two minutes to go, keep going,” he told his players during a recent training drill.
O’Neil wants to hit the ground running this season, and leaving the home of potential title challengers Arsenal with a result will be huge.
He has been taking his men through some gruelling training sessions, and he has revealed his reason for the Emirates reference.
“It’s to show them that we’re not doing this for now,” the Wolves boss revealed.
“It’s for when we get somewhere and it matters, so we hang in and we survive. I am trying to give them little pictures on why we do stuff and why it’s important not to drop your level for the last minute. It’s for when we really need it.”
Every team will be trying to beat Arsenal this season, but manager Mikel Arteta and his men will ensure they make things very difficult for their opponents.
The Gunners only lost five league games last term – against Newcastle United, West Ham United, Fulham and twice to Aston Villa – but the defeats were enough to deny them a first league title since 2004, and Arteta has suggested they may need to go unbeaten to have a chance of finally pipping Manchester City to the title.
Whether the current Arsenal squad can follow in the footsteps of the Invincibles by going the entire campaign without a league loss remains to be seen, but they have to keep their number of defeats to the bare minimum if they are to be named champions anytime soon.
Wolves will be standing in their way from the very beginning of the campaign, and the North Londoners must make a statement of intent with their performance and result.
