by Bulldog Drummond
As we saw in yesterday’s piece, Wolverhampton have been on a fine run of form, both before and after the break.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 01 Mar 2020 | Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton W | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 07 Mar 2020 | Wolverhampton W v Brighton and Hove | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 12 Mar 2020 | Olympiakos v Wolverhampton W | D | 1-1 | Europa League |
| 20 Jun 2020 | West Ham United v Wolverhampton W | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 24 Jun 2020 | Wolverhampton W v AFC Bournemouth | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 27 Jun 2020 | Aston Villa v Wolverhampton W | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
But four of those games were against teams of lesser pedigree. I am not sure about Olympiakos these days, so I’m not including them (and they knocked us out of the Europa) and I think I should also include Tottenham in that category of lesser teams… Because they were (at the time) in a run of seven games in which they lost five and drew two. In fact just to be up to date and because I like writing it, their current record is that they have won one of the last nine the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup games. Oh dear.
So we could argue that Wolverhampton’s great run of five wins and two draws is entirely against clubs that really are not up to anything much.
Arsenal’s form since we started up again has improved in the last three and included the away cup win against Sheffield United who have been above us in the league for a while. The win over Norwich although fully expected, showed a growing confidence, and was a win at home, which as is now confirmed is not so easy under lock down conditions.
Thus we now have the advantage of being away from home as the latest chart we have shows. Since lockdown, the results of matches compared to those before lock down shows a remarkable difference….
| Result | With crowds | Without crowds |
| Home Win | 45% | 27% |
| Away Win | 30% | 36% |
| Draw | 25% | 37% |
If we look at our individual matches before and after lockdown we see
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 02 Mar 2020 | Portsmouth v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | FA Cup |
| 07 Mar 2020 | Arsenal v West Ham United | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 17 Jun 2020 | Manchester City v Arsenal | L | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 20 Jun 2020 | Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 25 Jun 2020 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 28 Jun 2020 | Sheffield United v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | FA Cup |
| 01 Jul 2020 | Arsenal v Norwich City | W | 4-0 | Premier League |
Five wins and two defeats.
Historically Wolverhampton don’t have much of a clue against Arsenal. From 1980 to 2018 the clubs played 20 games against each other. Arsenal won 16 and there were four draws. Which left Wolverhampton with, oh hang on, my calculator won’t give me a number.
Here are the most recent results – and as we can see on 24 April 2019 for the first time since 29 September 1979 Wolverhampton beat Arsenal.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 03 Apr 2010 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 10 Nov 2010 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal | W | 0-2 | Premier League |
| 12 Feb 2011 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 27 Dec 2011 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 11 Apr 2012 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Premier League |
| 11 Nov 2018 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 24 Apr 2019 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 02 Nov 2019 | Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
Sports Mole give us a line up of
Martinez;
Luiz, Mustafi, Holding;
Cédric, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka;
Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang
Aubameyang needs one goal to become only the second Arsenal player to score 20 goals in consecutive Premier League seasons. The other was… Thierry Henry.
The Standard goes with the same people but with a different arrangement of positions at the back and in midfield.
Martinez;
Mustafi, Luiz, Holding;
Cédric, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka;
Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang
The Sun tells us “Arsenal have had a disappointing restart to the campaign” In that case I wonder what they would say about Tottenham’s last five games… Or Liverpool’s! Here is the last five league games chart.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wand | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | Manchester Utd | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
| 3 | Newcastle Utd | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 9 |
| 8 | Everton | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 8 |
| 9 | Burnley | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 8 |
| 10 | Liverpool! | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 7 |
| 11 | Sheffield Utd. | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 7 |
| 12 | Southampton | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 | West Ham Utd | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 6 |
| 14 | Leicester City | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 15 | Tottenham Hot | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 5 |
As for the teams they again take the same players but mix up the positioning again
Martinez;
Luiz, Holding, Mustafi,
Cédric, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka;
Pepe, Aubameyang, Nketiah
Sky Sports won’t give us a predicted line up, but Football Talk with their “confirmed team news” have something different…
Martinez;
Holding, Luiz, Kolasinac,
Soares, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka;
Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang
So there we are, and as ever we shall see.
- Arsenal fined for misconduct in transfers; misleading statements; injuries
- The Lawrence award for misleading information designed to put Arsenal down
- The strange statistics that emerge as a result of the lockdown
in proper Oliver fashion he buys every dive by Traore and gives a foul against Arsenal. The
Tierney bounces a ball to Saka in the Wolves box and Saka finishes with a quality volley.
1 – 0 to the Arsenal against all the controlled Oliver flow.
I think we’re playing okay. Not a lot of flare but nothing too risky and efficient. Happy so far.
Sorry menace, I must admit I think Oliver’s been ok.
The etiquette of treating your visitors with respect, giving them the comfort of a dressing room, the same as the officials is out the window. Arsenal are up the stairs in a makeshift room, while Wolves have a nice warm enterance/exit from their dressing room. The Arsenal players had to wait for a while in the open, getting cold while Wolves remained in the warmth of a tunnel.
It is certainly something Arsenal should bear in mind when Wolves visit.
In my opinion the referee has done nothing outrages , fairly even handed .
The first half Arsenal have been very controlled , just got to be careful and not give the ball away in midfield .
Nitram, Traore has gone to ground 5 or 6 times looking for a foul and Oliver has given 2 just outside the box. The boy is a bulky strong player but has a penchant for simulation and Oliver seems to fall for it.
Half-time analysis on RMC Sport (France)…all talk about how clumsy Wolves are….not a word about how maybe Arsenal are not that bad…
And I think we are playing ok, much better then the reputation.
As for refereeing, I’ve seen worse. But I’m nervous nonetheless. Just please don’t give a chance to the PIGMOB representative…
They are taking it to us right now. We can’t seem to string any forward passes together.
Menace
Maybe I’m just so used to being totally screwed that a half decent performance seems great.
Either way, he certainly seems to of of reverted to PIGMOB type this in the 2nd half.
GoingGoingGooner
And yes we are certainly not helping ourselves the way we keep giving the ball away.
This is definitely a different referee from the first half.
Yes, yes, yes !!!! That’s it !
Yo Laca!
The RMC comment….another one for the lawrence award
Arsenal who in the past 24 years have managed to clich at least a EL spot…..
A good win for the Arsenal despite some strange decisions and unsurprising cards that PGMOL give us as a charitable exercise.
Wolves 0 Arsenal 2. It is 3 more points and thats what really matters.
Brilliant.
I reckon this is the most accomplished performance since Arteta took charge.
Solid, clinical.
Arsenal
9 efforts on goal, 5 on target 2 goals.
Wolves
10 efforts on goal, 1 on target, 0 goals.
And despite his disappointing 2nd half performance I still think Oliver is one of he better referees.
Despite my runner in the Derby still hobbling around, a great day.
Towards the end there Oliver did everything he could to help Wolves. Bookings for our players for “offences” that wouldn’t even have been called fouls the other way round. And a card for Torreira because he dared to consider his options for a few seconds at a corner. AMN only picking up a card for fouling somebody less harshly than he himself had been fouled.
Michael Oliver, looks like a rat and behaves like one too.
@ Nitram
It’s rare I disagree with you but for me, Oliver is a fully paid up member of the Riley Disciples.
Mikey
No problem, fair enough.
As I said to menace it may well be I’m just so used to being totally screwed.
Oliver definitely changed his approach in the second half. The 3 bookings of our players were outrageous. He ignored the foul on Eddie which stopped him making a run on goal. Luiz or Mustafi would have definitely got yellow, or even red cards for doing that. Also we had a plausible penalty claim ignored. Wolves players were just falling over to get free kicks for non-existent fouls
Well done Arsenal for beating Wolves plus Oliver
Oliver is a cheat, and showed his colours in the second half. His pathetic booking of our players near the end looked to me acts of frustration in that his tilting of the game in the second half did not have the desired effect.
No wonder none of the English refs are selected for the big summer international tournaments these days, they work for mike Riley and his agenda, not for the good of the game.
And on the subject of Riley, looks like Utd heading for a record penalty haul this season, as they pull out all stops to ensure they are in next years ECL
It’s funny that commentators and pundits seem by and large not to have picked up on the fact that with no crowd present to bias the referee, and the oddity for the home team of not having the noise, away wins are the norm. We’ve been telling them since before the re-start but they seem to keep on being surprised.
A very pleasant win to take us to 7th and four points above the amazing wonderly all-conquering Tiny Totts. A rather pleasant day.
WOO HOO, HOO ! Well done guys !
Again another solid performance from the team. The defence was quite compact, and kept their attackers on a tight leash.
We could have scored more at the end , but that clean sheet was truly a bonus.
Up the Gunners !
Brickfields Gunners
WOO HOO, HOO ! Indeed.
Just to say, you are a wonderfully positive poster, through thick and thin. Long may it continue. WOO HOO HOO indeed my friend !!
Tony@8:12pm
I scanned various media outlets. Not a mention of AFC being ahead of Spurs. Not surprising because it doesn’t fit the narrative. Some good press though and only a few Lawrence Award winners,lol.
I looked for the frail Arsenal defence and instead saw a polished passing unit beyond which Wolves never looked like scoring.
@Nicky,
this is one thing I did notice as well. For me our defence is getting better with each game. Mustafi had a very good game. Did not see much panic, Martinez was excellent again. And in the second half I was far less nervous as I used to be in a one nil to the Arsenal situation.
As for the ref, 2 fouls = one yellow, on both sides.