Our next fixture is the rearranged match away to Wolverhampton Wanderers which has been brought forward because it was originally scheduled for the weekend upon which we now take on the Creative Accountants in the Caribou Cup Final. While this match is an inconvenient distraction in the build up to the North London Derby, it is critical to our title challenge that our entire focus is on leaving the Black Country with all three points.
Our opponents have endured an execrable season to date and hopefully their luck will not change this week. Currently, after 26 matches, Wolves sit bottom of the table in 20th place, with 9 points, 18 points from safety, having won only one game all season, drawn 6 and lost 19, scoring 16 goals and conceding 48. Vitor Pereira was appointed in December 2024 to replace Gary O’Neil and managed to lift them to a final position, last season, of 16th on 42 points, 17 points above the relegation places and one place and 4 points above a small club from the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Road. Sadly for Pereira, his magic wand stopped working this season and he was sacked in early November after his team had lost eight of their first ten Premier League matches, drawing two and winning none. The departures of Ait-Nouri, Cunha and Semedo in the summer window clearly had a negative impact.
Ten days later, Rob Edwards was appointed as his replacement. I found Edwards’ move to Wolves something of a surprise given that he had only been appointed Head Coach of Middlesbrough some 5 months earlier and had led Boro to a strong 2nd place position in the Championship. However, it appears that Edwards had previous ties to Wolves, having played 111 times for the club, had then been its academy coach and, in 2016, interim first team coach for two matches.
It is unlikely that Edwards’ coaching philosophy has changed since these words on his appointment at Boro,
“I want my teams to be aggressive and on the front foot,” Edwards said back in June. “I want us to play with bravery. I want control; I want complete control ideally, but as far away from our goal as possible. Action – that’s what I want.”
Indeed, Rob Edwards has improved Wolves’ performances and marginally improved their results though they failed to show an immediate ‘new manager bounce’ or reduce the gap to the teams above them. Prior to his appointment, Wolves Premier League record was: P11, W0, D2, L 9, F7, A25. Since his arrival, their results are: P 15, W1, D4, L10, F9, A23. Their high spots under Edwards have been a 3-0 home victory against West Ham, sandwiched between 1-1 away draws at Manchester United and Everton. He also gained goalless draws against Newcastle at home and at Forest, away. On top of that they lost only by the narrowest margins at Villa Park, Ashburton Grove (remember our added time winner through reliable old Owen Gole) and Anfield after creditable performances.
A.I. tells me that, in accordance with the quote above, Edwards implements an aggressive, front-foot playing style, primarily utilising a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 formation featuring high-intensity pressing, attacking wing-backs for width, and central midfield overloads, aiming for high-control football. The wing-backs act as part of a back five when out of possession as well as functioning as wingers during attacking phases though the Wolves squad may lack the speed and dribbling ability for the quick counter-attacks he desires. As a result, his Wolves teams often adopt a more cautious 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 when forced to sit deeper and I think we can confidently anticipate that a deep block will be a feature of this game.
Wolves are certain to be relegated but they will be playing for pride and I expect a physical scrap. They have a decent keeper in Sá. Mosquera, Agabadou and a couple of Buenos, Santiago and Hugo, may provide defensive muscle as may ex-Spud Doherty. Midfield muscle is provided by a couple of Gomes’s, João and Angel (probably no angel) while Bellegarde or Mané may provide creativity. In the absence of Strand Larsen (now a Palace servant), their attacking threat will be chosen from new signings Arokodare or Armstrong, or old lag Hee-Chan. Wolves struggled to beat Grimsby Town 1-0 in the FA Cup at the weekend but made a significant number of changes from the team that lost at home to Chelsea the weekend before so probably had an eye on this game and will have a few rested legs.
Arsenal sit top of the league, 4 points clear of the Creative Accountants, and should be buoyed by the performance against Wigan by what was largely our ‘B team’. The major positives from that game were the performances of Kepa, White, Mosquera, Nørgaard, Saka at ‘inside right’, Eze, Madueke, Jesus and Martinelli. I suspect that all of those players will be knocking on MA8’s office door asking for a starting place in this game. However, I expect MA8 will choose to revert to most of our ‘heavyweights’ as the game off will have done them a lot of good. The Creative Accountants’ match against Palace must also be rescheduled because of the Caribou Cup Final, but has not had a date set and may well not take place until near the end of the season due to both clubs’ European commitments. We will therefore have played one game more than our main rivals for much of the run in from this point. Thus, winning this rearranged game becomes even more important than winning every other game, as having three extra points on the board and a seven point gap, despite having played an extra game, will give us an extra psychological advantage. Much as we fans have half an eye on the North London Derby, the players cannot look beyond this game until they have cleared this hurdle.
In his press conference, MA8 revealed that White and Calafiori are both fit for this match but Ødegaard is not ready though the boss is ‘hopeful’ that his captain may be fit for the weekend, as he also says Havertz may be, though I suspect the latter news could be ‘mindgames’.
Thus, with the benefit of the weekend’s opportunistic experiment with Saka’s position, I would continue that experiment for at least 45 minutes in preference to rewarding Eze with another start after his improved form against Wigan. However, I would lean towards giving Saka a maximum of 60 minutes game time if circumstances permit. Likewise, despite his MotM performance I would replace Nørgaard with Zubiimendi and replace Eze with Rice, again hoping to give one or both a break at 60-70 minutes. I would start the rested pair, Timber and Hincapié as our full backs, given the recent muscle issues that caused Calafiori to limp out of the warm-up and White to limp off late in the game against Wigan. I hope to see either or both come on late in the game. Despite excellent performances, I expect Mosquera to give way to our senior defender, Gabriel, Martinelli to give way to Timber, Jesùs to give way to Gyökeres and Kepa to give way to Raya. Thus, I expect a starting XI of:
Raya
Timber Saliba Gabriel Hincapié
Saka Zubimendi Rice
Madueke Gyökeres Trossard.
I think we will see as tight a game as we saw at the Grove but a clean sheet would be nice, so I’m going to predict a traditional 1-0 to the Arsenal though I could easily get used to being 4-0 up after 28 minutes and seeing the game out without any more muscle strains. Sadly, that I don’t expect.
Enjoy the match, Holics from whichever vantage point you choose.
Thanks Bath, admirably thotough preview of our hastily rearranged midweek “reward” for avoiding the CL play offs. Great chance to push on as you say – I am optimistic we can grind them down and come away with a 3-0 win.
I’d probably start Eze in midfield and Saka wide right personally, but we have a number of options to cover for Ode and maybe Noni’s recent output will see him keep his place.
Be nice to see Leo and Bukayo on the scoresheet
Thanks for your fine preview Bath. I greet you from my frozen lake-side picture window in northeast Minnesota, the home of sometruly fierce wolves (so they say, even if they seem to like hiding behind the trees) and I’m hoping our opponents on the morrow won’t have quite such a ferocity quotient but that is certainly no guarantee considering they will be hungering for scraps not to mention jobs in next season’s Premier League campaign whether Wolves suffer relegation or not. I went x-c skiing this morning in the sunshine but tomorrow we are forecast to get more than a foot of snow so I will be searching for an elusive stream or following the text coverage on the interwebs. Three points must be grabbed when the opportunities present themselves which may or may not be many times. COYG.
Talking of the CL play offs – just seeing some of the early stages makes me glad we are not in them. Juve stuffed 5-2 in Turkey and PSG a Balogun goal down in the first minute to Monaco.
Hope you are well dug in and liberally stocked with medicinal brandy bt8 😃
Our own Timber wolf is fiercer than any of the local Black country type here….
Thanks for an informative preview, Bath. As you say, it is another must-win, but we should be able to score at least a couple of goals against them.
It will be interesting to see if Arteta continues the Saka experiment at inside right (at least our Starboy will be able to afford some proper Alex James-style baggy inside-forward shorts now that he has signed his new contract). A combination of Saka at inside right and Eze at inside left might be our best option for prising open low blocks. Nørgaard would probably be the ideal single pivot behind them, although leaving Rice and Zubimendi on the bench would garner Arteta some criticism. Against elite opponents, those two should be among the first names on the team sheet, but who would be the other starting midfielder? Saka? Ødegaard? Eze? Havertz? Merino (once fit)? Looking down the road, a right-wing combo of Saka and Dowman could be pretty potent.
Thanks bath – fine work indeed !
Got to be positive at this stage and with the position we’re in and go for a good win.
As for the score, I’ll ask my friend Molly as we’re away at Wolves cos last time we were Molly knew 😉
Molly knew! 🙂
Very important we get 3 points. I agree with Bath, t’will be tight. I’ll take 1-0!
Trev@6: Just keep your other friend, Laura, well out of it.
Cheers bath.
A scrappy game is likely, but I think that, provided we don’t wait to long to score a goal, there will be others and the scoreline will be more comfortable than one-nil.
I’m with Matt with the line-up.
And haha, Trev.
Cheers Baff. Comprehensive setup.
3 points and no injuries, please. And preferably without any drama in the last 15 minutes. Famous last words, but this team haven’t made it into double figures yet and they already gave us one scare thus season, so it would be good to turn up and show the gulf in class. Fingers crossed.
Bath signals a new milestone in the evolution of Goonerholic piece composition with the revelation of the deployment of AI technology in support of our continuing quest for excellence in all things pertaining to Arsenal. Apparently at light speed, our valiant band of creators has transitioned from quietly cloistered monks at Castle Ned scribing by candlelight on freshly pressed parchment using bone tipped feathered plumes to the leading edge of technology, infinity and beyond in England’s south western quarter. Wonderful stuff.
I did encounter a wolf once. Indeed, not just one but a whole family of the creatures crossed my path at speed when I was fishing in Soda Creek in Yellowstone NP. I was on my own at the time and it did occur to me subsequently that the pepper spray I had taken along to fend off grizzlies mightn’t have been sufficient to repel that pack had they been inclined to lunch. They weren’t, however, wearing black and gold and I’m certain there wasn’t a brace of either Buenos or Gomes in their midst, but I digress…….
I’m hoping that Wolves will just go for it tonight. Frankly they have nothing to lose and trying to defend their way to a nil-nil draw will win them fewer plaudits than going down in a blaze of glory having tried valiantly but failed miserably to vanquish the odious Arsenal, they of the exorbitantly high priced home stadium seat prices. Three points are absolutely a MUST and I’ll settle for that outcome by any means or scoreline.
Enjoy, Holics.
NLFE
Thanks Bath
6.00am kick off for me so off to bed soon.
I think Mikel may well go with your team but also hope that Saka gets a run as others have hoped.
3-0 no worries mate.
UTA
BtM@11: Fear not, the candlelight will long flicker at Castle Ned.
Have you heard the lucubrations at midnight?
I am off to sleep myself too, it’s my son’s birthday
tomorrow so let’s hope the team delivers his
present in timely fashion
Raya interview with Sky shows he is an astute thinker about what makes this team tick: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13508481/david-raya-exclusive-arsenal-goalkeeper-says-arsenal-need-to-play-without-fear-to-end-premier-league-title-wait
Informative and enjoyable preview Bath, thank you!
The home match against Wolves was surprisingly difficult as they stuck to a very disciplined defensive shape and tracked our movements diligently. The final result may haven’t gone their way but it’s very likely they would have been encouraged by that display. But it’s also likelier that Mikel and the coaches will have planned some tactical tweaks.
I think Saka as the right sided #8 can be one such tweak. He played against Wigan that role very differently than Martin. Less as the connective link but more as a probing attacker. The positional interchanges with the in-form Madueke was promising as well. I feel in Ødegaard’s absence he should continue that role.
Seems both White and Calafiori are fit. But it maybe wiser to start Hincapié today and have Ricky fresh and ready for the NLD. On the left side, Leo is the natural choice against a deep defense. However, I wonder if Eze can be given an opportunity there. Hincapié is much more comfortable sticking to the traditional left back role and isn’t that adept at coming inside. Which should allow Eze to better move in the half-spaces and use his quick footwork and chance-taking instincts, with Hincapié in charge of delivering crosses from the byline.
Raya
Timber-Saliba-Gabriel-Hincapié
Saka-Zubimendi-Rice
Madueke-Gyökeres-Eze
While any win will do, a composed 2-0 will do it even better. The clean sheets are particularly enjoyable.
Come on Arsenal!
Fine preview Bath thanks .
I’m unfortunately chairing a Food Bank meeting tonight but will watch the game on my return home . I think this will be more difficult than league positions would suggest but we must win.
I think Saka will start wide right with Eze in an attacking midfield position. I’m expecting a hard fought 2-0 victory for the good guys
Saka in midfield. White and Calafiori on the bench
Gyokeres upfront
Might be saving hat trick Eze for the Spuds ….
Arteta saying today that he will look into our warm up routines. We’ve had four players injured in warm ups this season. Calafiori twice, Saka and Saliba, which I had forgotren.
Thanks Bath for an interesting preview. I think Mikel has got the starting Xi spot on tonight. Wolves gave us a tough game at the NHOF a few weeks ago – we can expect another physical tough match and the players chosen reflect that – not a match for zany injury suspect players. No surprise to see Eze on the bench – playing no 10 against Wigan is not the same as playing no 10 against a defensive Wolves – and he is yer to impose himself in these type of matches. Saka has a really good footballing brain and skill set well suited to this role, let’s hope this will materialise in this game.
All games are must win and we should achieve this one way or another.
COYRRR
Hope to see the bench getting a lot of minutes.
Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie
Saka, Zubimendi, Rice
Madueke, Gyökeres, Martinelli
Bench: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, White, Jesus, Eze, Norgaard, Trossard, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly
Pretty good first half, considering the Wolves attempts to continually break the game up. We need a second and then the game is dead,
Or not.
Oh dear. That went very pear-shaped towards the end. That game should have been killed off in the first half, but, yet again, I fear, it was not.
Mamma mia… my worst wengerish nightmare…
Not good enough….
we have to be harder, not managing the game but win it.
Ohhh my
Wolves player fouls Trossard and causes him to be withdrawn and the freekick went to Wolves who scored from it.
Never going to win the premier league with corrupt and useless officials.
Well that was very disappointing after such a positive start and getting a second after they had begun to give us some problems. We are our own worst enemy and lost our way after they pulled a goal back. Their second goal was a total shitshow the like of which we haven’t had to put up with for ages, and it had been coming for ten minutes. We need to channel that anger we saw at the final whistle and beat themarshdwellers to get the show back on the road. COYG
Not sure it’s on the officials. If you are 2 goals to the good against the bottom of the league side you should be professional enough to win the game.
Can’t argue with @27/28, Hincapie’s goal should have put the game to bed.
No time to wallow might be a good thing as the NLD is coming soon and we need
to put things right.
We were uncharacteristically sloppy throughout the second half. There was something about the goal that was ill-starred, too. Calafiori blocks the shot after the Gabriel/Raya mix-up, but it bounces off him, onto the post, then off him again and in. That is Lady Luck holding up two fingers to you.
Not for the first time this season, we should have been two or three goals to the good by the break and the game put to bed. Then Arteta can pull off the starters after 65 or 70 minutes, and put on bring on subs who will put in a shift because they want to show the boss they deserve more minutes, and not need to keep on the Sakas, Rices and Zubimendis who are running themselves into the ground.
For those looking for a little displacement therapy, the latest update to the GHF Predictathon has been posted. The candy-coloured knitting that is the form guide looks more convoluted than usual this week. You know where to find out if you were the gloves your aunty knitted for you or were just tied up in knots…
@31 er, thanks Ned. I won’t shoot the messenger 😃
My last words (to myself…) last night at the ball ricocheted off Ricky and the post into the net were ‘FFS!’.
What Matt said @ 29 (and so agreeing with 27 & 28 too).
Let us never speak of this match again.
After that performance I wish I hadn’t just spent 150 quid on Carabao Cup final tickets. If we play like that we’ll get absolutely belted. And if the players can’t be arsed to turn up against the league’s whipping boys, then why should I give a flying one?
‘Angry” of Winchmore Hill.
I’m ordering a large quantity of bubble wrap in which to shroud myself and my fragile emotions (which for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, hurt me and appear to disturb every aspect of my life, awake or asleep, after 90 minutes of the type of ‘entertainment’ served up by Arsenal in Wolverhampton last night).
A little pathetic, I know, but having been encouraged by Mikel to “get in the boat and enjoy the ride” – and having equipped myself with appropriately coloured wellies, sou’wester and oilskin coat to defend against the occasional spell of inclement weather during the voyage, I’ve discovered that these ageing muscles of mine are not up to the task of constantly bailing bilge water which has consequently risen to a level just below my nostrils.
The bubble wrap will come coupled with a snorkel system and, even if the boat sinks completely, (an event of which Mikel made no mention that I can recall in his pitch for his jolly boys outing around the needles; without any life belts in the boat) I’m hopeful that life will go on in my plastic cocoon. Clever, eh?
Always an man with an eye for a bargain, I’ll be very happy to have any Holic willing to help me deflate the cost but not the efficacy of the wrap join me in both procuring and then perfecting this form of protection until journey’s end and the arrival of terra firma. Contact me @BtMonVitalSpark.
A cracking idea BtM but I think it might
be all hands on deck for the NLD this weekend.
I am wondering if it is masochistic of me but
I am actually looking forward to it….
There’s no room for fear or hesitation and
the atmosphere should concentrate the mind
very well, anyway we’ll see one way or the
other
The NLD comes round at a good time for the team to get their focus back. If these players can’t get up to snuff for the NLD then they ain’t winning the gongs.
I have been writing about going away to support the Arsenal in this august blog since 2011. Mostly it’s fun, and a privilege.
Well that was one of the most miserable away days we have ever had. 1 degree centigrade, heavy sleet from kick off and the team were shite. Wet and freezing walking back to the car. Home at 1am. Better be better for Spurs on Sunday.
I have no more to say on the matter.
Sorry that you both had to go through this, C100, especially post Jr illness, rather than be able to attend the ‘fun’ of the past Sunday. Hopefully this coming one will put everything right again. Fingers crossed.
@38, C100, I’m completely sympathetic. A very dispiriting evening for anyone who is committed and cares.
Meanwhile the odious individuals at AFTV milking it to the max to entertain opposing fans to the detriment of Mikel and our players.
I have to admit I didn’t even know AFTV still existed, BtM (and I’m all the better for it).
BtM @40. The away fans hate AFTV. It was at Goodison about five years ago that I first heard the chant AFTV get out of our gloves. There was then some fisticuffs with the AFTV mob on the way out of the ground. Robbie was getting some stick at Forest just a couple of weeks ago as well. But I understand they’ve made a fortune out of it.
Club, not gloves. I think my fingers are still frozen.
A very tough day out for all our away fans and the Countrymen in particular . Massive credit to them all for their support and loyalty . Sometimes one can look back to low water marks retrospectively and note that things improve from thereon in . Let us hope last night was indeed a low water mark and that we can latterly view it as the moment that galvanised our title surge
>>>>>>>