What a roller coaster season Arsenal are having. They finished December with a great run of five wins in a row and then collapsed with five games without winning a game.
A great and unlucky 2-1 defeat to Manchester City started the run, but then went rapidly downhill with being knocked out of both cups without scoring a goal and then an awful 0-0 bore draw with Burnley.
Yes we were depleted thanks to AFCON, Covid and of course, our usual red cards, but hopefully Arteta will have a full squad to choose from after our much needed break.
But now the Gunners come up against an in-form Wolves team who are currently just 2 points below us and preparing to leapfrog us in the table. They have had 4 wins and a draw in their last 5 League games, including win over Man United and a draw with Chelsea. They are a very tough nut to crack, especially at home, where their only defeat in the last 7 was 0-1 to Liverpool.
So the bare form statistics make it look like an easy win for the home side, and it doesn’t help to think that Wolves did the double over us last season, winning both games 2-1, but Arteta will be feeling a lot more confident than he did in the game against Burnley.
He will have most of the squad available that notched up the 5 wins in a row, and they should all be refreshed after the midwinter break. He will be hoping they can pick up where they left off and can just ignore the dreadful January results.
This week is also extremely crucial for Wolves as after this game they take on Tottenham. If they win both they could be favourites for Top Four, but if they lose both, there will be a gap ahead of them.
An intriguing contest is a certainty on Thursday…
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