By Bulldog Drummond
In the last article it was shown that of late Wolverhampton have got themselves into a real spot of trouble. Tracking their league results from the start of December onward we see
| Date | Game | Res | Score |
| 06 Dec 2020 | Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 4-0 |
| 12 Dec 2020 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa | L | 0-1 |
| 15 Dec 2020 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Chelsea | W | 2-1 |
| 21 Dec 2020 | Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 2-1 |
| 27 Dec 2020 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur | D | 1-1 |
| 29 Dec 2020 | Manchester United v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 1-0 |
| 02 Jan 2021 | Brighton and Hove v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 3-3 |
| 12 Jan 2021 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton | L | 1-2 |
| 16 Jan 2021 | Wolverhampton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion | L | 2-3 |
| 27 Jan 2021 | Chelsea v Wolverhampton Wanderers | D | 0-0 |
| 30 Jan 2021 | Crystal Palace v Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 1-0 |
One win (over the erratic Chelsea), three draws and seven defeats. The only thing we can say about this in a positive way is that in this run they had no games against the bottom three who seem to be setting themselves adrift.
Taking the season as a whole we can compare Wolverhampton at home and Arsenal away
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Arsenal at home | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 16 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers away | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 12 |
As we know, playing away now gives a slight advantage, as opposed to the advantage held by home teams in the olden days, when referees were always influenced by the crowd. But Arsenal’s better form and second best defence in the league should see us through without too much difficulty.
While the two sets of results thus far in the season are not that different it is the recent results that say a lot. Here are the Arsenal results again from 6 December…
| Date | Game | Res | Score |
| 13 Dec 2020 | Arsenal v Burnley | L | 0-1 |
| 16 Dec 2020 | Arsenal v Southampton | D | 1-1 |
| 19 Dec 2020 | Everton v Arsenal | L | 2-1 |
| 26 Dec 2020 | Arsenal v Chelsea | W | 3-1 |
| 29 Dec 2020 | Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal | W | 0-1 |
| 2 Jan 2021 | West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal | W | 0-4 |
| 14 Jan 2021 | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | D | 0-0 |
| 18 Jan 2021 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 3-0 |
| 26 Jan 2021 | Southampton v Arsenal | W | 1-3 |
| 30 Jan 2021 | Arsenal v Manchester United | D | 0-0 |
Five wins three draws two defeats. And if we take Christmas as a turning point what we can see is that we have scored 14 goals in seven, while Wolverhampton have scored nine. Not as bad a some but not that good.
Last for today’s statistics
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 10 | Arsenal | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 31 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 30 | -9 | 23 |
it is interesting that although there are only eight points between the clubs, and although we are not knocking the goals in as in the old days, we have a 15 goal superior goal difference across the season. As noted before we have the second best defence in the league.
Last the transfer news…
Ainsley Maitland Niles has gone on loan to West Bromwich Albion, so we are told, where he will play in midfield, and Mustafi will go to Schalke on a free, while Joe Willock is going on loan to Newcastle. Matt Smith has joined Charlton Athletic on loan.
Watford have, it is said, completed the signing of Mitchel Bergkamp, the son of Dennis, and Aubameyang has been pictured training with the squad ahead of tomorrow’s game.
And that’s all we have been told so far.
- Deadline day transfers: 14 Arsenal last minute deals
- Just how huge are the debts of the big football clubs?
- Is it really our defenders who are so bad?
- After 20 games how does this season compare with the past and could we make 4th?
Was that a pen or was Luiz trying to be clever in making look a coming together , the ref was quick