A case of complacency or were Wolves that good?

Arsenal enjoyed a midweek visit to Brugge that earned them three points. Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke certainly raised morale across the camp, but points were needed in their domestic campaign. The Gunners were on a run of just two wins in their previous five games, but they had a chance to put things right against Wolves. The away team reside at the bottom of the table and were thumped 4-1 by Manchester United on Monday night. They were also on a streak of 9 defeats. Everything pointed towards a comfortable evening for Arsenal.

Arsenal began the game as expected, in control. Wolves were resilient and plugged any gaps that Arsenal could’ve used to progress. An early chance fell to Jurrien Timber, but his header was off target. 10 minutes it would take before Arsenal had another chance, but it was another header off target, this time from Declan Rice. The Gunners really struggled to make any progress in the attacking third and Wolves were happy to absorb the pressure. The idea would be to try and pick an opportunity to hit the home side on the counter and they did just that before the half hour mark. Hee-Chan Hwang exploited some very sloppy play from the Arsenal men. Hwang galloped through on goal and was bearing down on David Raya, the Spaniard got down very quickly to save Hwang’s effort. A real let off for Mikel Arteta’s men. The chance for Wolves should’ve brought some focus and determination to get that opening goal, but Arsenal continued with that lack of penetration. The best chance, that Arsenal had, fell to Martinelli. His back post header was off target despite the fact that he was unchallenged. The Brazilian had a series of chances after that, but all were blocked. That was all that was left of the half.

The 2nd half began and Arsenal remained in control, however, with no shots on target yet, the frustration was building. 68 minutes were on the clock before Arsenal had a shot on target. That came from a hopeful effort from Rice, outside the box. The Wolves keeper was equal to it. Despite the lack of real chances, the Gunners were finally able to slice themselves a piece of luck. Bukayo Saka swung a deep corner into the box, it curled all the way to the back post, the ricochet off of that slammed against the Wolves keeper and the ball bounced into the net. It was lucky, but Arsenal won’t care. Chances started to emerge for the North London side following the goal. Martin Odegaard thumped a shot against the side netting, Viktor Gyokeres dragged an effort wide and Leandro Trossard arrowed an attempt just wide of the post. But, Arsenal took the bizarre decision to sit off of Wolves and let them build their attacks for the last five minutes of the game. As you would’ve guessed, Wolves capitalised on that and found an equaliser. Mateus Mane fizzed a cross into the box, Tolu Arokodare was able to glance a header beyond Raya. Arsenal were in bits, but they still had six minutes of added time. They only needed three of those minutes to find the winner. Saka supplied a cross into the box where Gabriel Jesus rose to meet it. Jesus flicked his head at the ball, but he missed and the ball struck Yerson Mosquera. Sam Johnstone, in goal, was left unable to reach the impending own goal. 2-1 and Arsenal had saved their season.

As you can probably work out, Arsenal’s statistics were not very good. Despite having 16 attempts, only 2 were on target. 1.13 xG was generated with 3 big chances created. Wolves only had 3 shots, but two were on target. This resulted in a 0.38 xG with 1 big chance generated.

Player Ratings:

Raya – 7 – Made one crucial save early on that could’ve really put Arsenal in an awkward position. He couldn’t really do much for the goal as it was past him in a flash, not even he could react in time.

White – 7 – I was enjoying his performance up until his injury, which is now a big concern. He was linking up well with Saka and we were seeing those overlapping runs we used to enjoy.

Saliba – 7 – A quiet game, but very happy to have him back. He kept Arsenal stable from a defensive perspective.

Hincapie – 5 – He has shades of Gabriel when he first started at the club. Very raw talent that needs polishing. He’s aggressive, which isn’t a bad thing, but needs to iron it out. He needs to know when to be aggressive and when to be calm, everything is done in the moment from him. Gabriel has mastered the art of balance between aggression and control, Hincapie will have to follow suit.

Timber – 6 – Started at centre back, but forced back into right back. I’m not sure what it was, but he felt different in this game. I think fatigue is setting in for a few players. He defended well, but his attacking output was severely lacking. His final ball was really poor.

Zubimendi – 6 – Much like Timber, Zubimendi is perhaps suffering too. Earlier in the season he seemed to find a lot of joy playing forward passes and breaking through the lines. Recently, this game especially, he just recycled possession. It’s helpful when you’re a couple of goals up and need stability. However, when you’re chasing a goal, you need to be braver.

Rice – 7 – I don’t think Rice had his best game, but another one who’s suffering from a lot of football. He dragged us up the pitch very well and certainly forced things to happen, but he cut a frustrated figure a lot of the time. His set piece deliveries left a lot to be desired, not up to his usual standards.

Eze – 5 – One of those games that if we had scored early, he would’ve thrived with how the game would naturally open up. We didn’t and it felt like he was isolated. Nothing was going through him and I think he played a part in that by choosing the wrong angles to receive a pass. He can be so dangerous in and around the box, but when he can’t get there, he’s non-existent.

Martinelli – 7 – He missed two key chances, plus a host of others. But, I always appreciate a player that is in a position to have a chance. So, despite the frustration of his missed attempts, I liked his effort.

Saka – 8 (MOTM) – One of those performances where he wasn’t at his best, but even at below par, he can still drag his team over the line. Despite forcing the two goals, he’ll be frustrated that he won’t register a goal or assist. They were both given as own goals. He was the best player on the pitch, but that’s mainly because everyone else was far below the expected level, except from one.

Gyokeres – 5 – Overall it was a performance that lacked any real substance and for that he gets a 5. However, I will die on the hill that he will come good eventually. There’s signs in his play that he’s a couple of clicks away from unlocking his full potential. Of course there’s moments that make you question his ability, but there’s definitely a mismatch between the service he’s receiving and his output. Once the supporting cast find the bravery to make the most of his movement, the goals will come.

Substitutes:

Lewis-Skelly – 7 – It felt like he was more in tune with his defensive responsibilities in this fixture. His forward play was a little lacking, but he made some crucial challenges late on to try and protect Arsenal’s lead.

Odegaard – 6 – For a player that moves around a lot and covers quite a distance on the pitch, I didn’t feel like was beneficial for the team at all. I don’t like his tendency to hide and not play between the lines. It’s like he only wants to receive the ball when he knows he has time, that isn’t going to break down any low block. Disappointing from our captain. He also failed to close down the cross that led to Wolves’ equaliser.

Merino – 7 – The more effective of the midfield replacements. At the very least he’ll ask to receive the ball under pressure to try and unpick the lock. We know he can be a little slow to turn, but he’s always up for getting involved at both ends.

Trossard – 8 – Aside from Saka, the best player on the pitch by a mile. His introduction gave Arsenal more life in attack. What I will say is that his passing was exceptional. Leo was brave in his choices and we got to see more from Gyokeres because of it. He was unlucky not to score, he misjudged how much zip the pitch had, but full marks for making the right run and almost creating himself a chance he’d have probably scored.

Jesus – 7 – He still looks a bit rusty, but that’s expected. What didn’t help was the fact that Arsenal decided to drop deep after he came on. If we maintained our attacking intensity then we could’ve easily avoided an equaliser and would’ve likely added a second anyway. He was in the right place to put Mosquera off for the own goal, that’s enough of a contribution for me.

That’s it for this game. I won’t ever watch the replay or highlights, but it’s important that lessons were learnt from this. Mikel Arteta was certainly annoyed by his side’s late decision to invite pressure, so I think we’ll see a few tweaks to the system for our game against Everton away. We’ve been good for 90% of the season, but in that 10% we’ve been awful and we saw that 10% against Wolves. 3 points is what matters the most as Manchester City aren’t slowing down, they’ll likely be above us when do face Everton, but that’s down to how the fixtures play out. The boys have a week off now and I’m certain Arteta will make sure that the Wolves performance is not repeated. As mentioned earlier, it’s Everton away next and that’ll be an interesting game. The Toffees could be without some key names as Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are away at the African Cup of Nations. Jack Grealish and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall are also doubts, due to injuries. With that being said, here’s my early predicted lineup.

I think we can expect full strength, there’s no reason not to after the players having a week off. I would like to see how Calafiori at centre back works with Hincapie at left back, but it seems like Arteta favours Calafiori in a more advanced role. It’ll be a toss up between Eberechi Eze and Trossard, but you can’t drop Trossard as he’s having a wonderful season. Eze could get in ahead of Odegaard, but that’s unlikely as Arteta will usually play his captain. Aside from that, I don’t expect any changes. Ben White is out for a month now, similarly Kai Havertz and Gabriel aren’t likely to make this game. Even if they did, they certainly wouldn’t start. I’m quietly confident we’ll see a team that’s refreshed and are able to up the intensity of their attacking output, I’m going with a 1/2-0 to Arsenal. Let’s get a strong run going!