Mikel Arteta is hoping for a fast start as Arsenal begin their quest for the Premier League title when they welcome Wolves to the Emirates on Saturday.
Arteta's side concluded their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 2-0 win over Lyon last week, with William Saliba and Gabriel on target in the first half.
And the Gunners head coach explained that his side must set the tone in the opening exchanges against Gary O'Neil's side in North London.
"Look at today with the way we started, for sure. It’s about maintaining that for 95 minutes and that’s the target and objectives that we need to have," Arteta said after the win over the French side.
"There’s a lot of positives to take from today’s performance again.
"I think overall it's been a really positive pre-season with the tour and the club and a lot of people put a lot of effort into making it work. I think it was a success again."
Wolves, meanwhile, will be hoping to improve on a dismal end to the 2023-24 season, but face a side they have failed to beat in the Premier League since February 2021.
O'Neil's side lost five of their last six league games (W1), including the last three in a row, concluding their pre-season fixtures with a 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano at Molineux last Saturday.
“Next week is a big one for me to make sure the lads are ready for the Premier League and next week is a big one for us in the transfer market," O'Neil said.
"We’ve made another £100m this summer, we made £100m last summer, and that does provide its challenges to keep the team staying competitive and keep the team as strong as it once was four or five years ago.
“We’re trying to get it back to that, but with a very different make-up behind the scenes that we’re working to. But I enjoy those challenges a lot.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal - Martin Odegaard
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard enjoyed his joint-most prolific season for the Gunners last year, netting 11 goals and adding 11 assists across 48 appearances in all competitions.
Odegaard has scored more Premier League goals against Wolves (four) than he has against any other opponent, but three of those have come away from the Emirates.
The Norwegian will hope to have an effect at the top end of the pitch, with his 102 chances that he created for the Gunners last year a total only bettered by Pascal Gross (103) and Bruno Fernandes (114).
Wolves - Matheus Cunha
With Pedro Neto's transfer to Chelsea confirmed last week, last year's top scorer in all competitions, Matheus Cunha will pose a significant threat to Arsenal's defence.
Cunha contributed 22 goal involvements (14 goals and eight assists) in 36 appearances last year, registering the highest expected goals (xG) total in the Wolves squad in the Premier League (9.49).
The Brazilian scored in his last visit to North London in a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal and will be hoping to continue his scoring streak at the Emirates this weekend.
MATCH PREDICTION: ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal are the clear favourites to start their campaign with three points, winning 76.4% of Opta's data-led simulations, with Wolves emerging victorious in 9.5% of those.
The Gunners have won each of their last six Premier League encounters with Wolves, their joint-longest winning run against them (also six in a row from 2003 to 2011).
Arteta has won his opening Premier League fixture in each of the last two seasons, with another victory securing three consecutive opening day triumphs for the first time since between 2007-08 and 2009-10.
Arsenal have scored in each of their last 33 meetings with Wolves in all competitions, last failing to do so since a 1-0 home defeat in February 1979.
It’s both the Gunners’ longest scoring streak against an opponent, and Wolves’ longest run without a clean sheet against a side in their respective histories.
But O'Neil will be hopeful of changing his side's opening day fortunes. Wolves have lost their opening Premier League game in each of the last three seasons and have never started a league season with defeat in four seasons in a row in their history.
Wolves have also won just one of their last 13 away top-flight visits to Arsenal (D4 L8), winning 2-1 at the Emirates in November 2020 under Nuno Espirito Santo.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Arsenal - 76.4%
Draw - 14%
Wolves - 9.5%
Maresca: Chelsea 'not ready' to compete for trophies with Man City and Arsenal
Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea "are not ready" to compete for major trophies against Manchester City and Arsenal this season.
The Blues have made a strong start to life under Maresca, losing just two of their 10 matches so far.
They are currently on a five-match winning run in all competitions, most recently seeing off Gent 4-2 in their Conference League opener on Thursday.
So far, Chelsea have scored 27 goals under the Italian, with 15 of those coming in the league, outperforming their 12.2 expected goals (xG), and only failed to score in their opening Premier League match against City.
However, Maresca has insisted people should not get carried away by Chelsea's recent form, playing down their chances of lifting any silverware this campaign.
"I really don't think we can compete with City or Arsenal," Maresca said.
"I really don't think that, because we are not ready. The reason is that City has worked with the same manager for nine years and Arsenal for five years. If you want to compete for big things, you need that time.
"After Arsenal beat PSG [in the Champions League] they asked Luis Enrique, and he said the same thing, that Arsenal have had the same manager for five years and [PSG] only a year and a half.
"Imagine us, only three months… so it's a huge difference. So, I am really convinced we cannot compete with those clubs."
Before Maresca's appointment, Mauricio Pochettino only spent a season at Stamford Bridge, while Graham Potter before him was only in the position for just under seven months.
After another busy transfer window for Chelsea saw them bring in 13 players, Maresca has urged for patience as they continue to find their footing in the early stages of his tenure.
"The target is to improve and slowly, slowly to get closer to those clubs but at the moment we are not ready for that," he added.
“There is no timeframe because you can continue to improve and add solutions to things always.”
Chelsea face Nottingham Forest at home on Sunday in their final match before the international break.
Maresca: Chelsea 'not ready' to complete for trophies with Man City and Arsenal
Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea "are not ready" to compete for major trophies against Manchester City and Arsenal this season.
The Blues have made a strong start to life under Maresca, losing just two of their 10 matches so far.
They are currently on a five-match winning run in all competitions, most recently seeing off Gent 4-2 in their Conference League opener on Thursday.
So far, Chelsea have scored 27 goals under the Italian, with 15 of those coming in the league, outperforming their 12.2 expected goals (xG), and only failed to score in their opening Premier League match against City.
However, Maresca has insisted people should not get carried away by Chelsea's recent form, playing down their chances of lifting any silverware this campaign.
"I really don't think we can compete with City or Arsenal," Maresca said.
"I really don't think that, because we are not ready. The reason is that City has worked with the same manager for nine years and Arsenal for five years. If you want to compete for big things, you need that time.
"After Arsenal beat PSG [in the Champions League] they asked Luis Enrique, and he said the same thing, that Arsenal have had the same manager for five years and [PSG] only a year and a half.
"Imagine us, only three months… so it's a huge difference. So, I am really convinced we cannot compete with those clubs."
Before Maresca's appointment, Mauricio Pochettino only spent a season at Stamford Bridge, while Graham Potter before him was only in the position for just under seven months.
After another busy transfer window for Chelsea saw them bring in 13 players, Maresca has urged for patience as they continue to find their footing in the early stages of his tenure.
"The target is to improve and slowly, slowly to get closer to those clubs but at the moment we are not ready for that," he added.
“There is no timeframe because you can continue to improve and add solutions to things always.”
Chelsea face Nottingham Forest at home on Sunday in their final match before the international break.
Ten Hag's future 'not my call', says Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe says he does not hold power over the future of boss Erik ten Hag, amid the Red Devils' woeful start to the season.
United have taken just seven points from their first six Premier League matches, only beating Fulham and Southampton while suffering back-to-back 3-0 home defeats versus Liverpool and Tottenham.
That is their joint-worst return through six games of any season in the competition, having made identical starts under David Moyes in 2013-14 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020-21.
In the Europa League, meanwhile, United were pegged back in a 1-1 draw at home to Feyenoord on matchday one then squandered a 2-0 lead in Thursday's 3-3 draw at Porto.
Those results have led to fierce criticism coming Ten Hag's way, but Ratcliffe says United's new football hierarchy will make any decisions regarding the Dutchman's future.
Asked if he retained faith in Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in pre-season, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: "I don't want to answer that question.
"I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach but at the end of the day it's not my call.
"It's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
"But that team that's running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren't there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
"They've only been there… you can count it in weeks almost - they've not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
"Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it's not there yet, obviously – that's very clear."
United go to Aston Villa for their next Premier League game on Sunday, having won 40 Premier League games against the Villans, with only the Red Devils themselves beating an opponent more often in the competition's history (41 versus Everton).
Villa have won just one of their last 25 Premier League home games against United (eight draws, 16 losses), with that victory coming in Unai Emery's first game in charge of the club in November 2022 (3-1).
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