If anyone really thought Arsenal would slink back into midtable after an uncomfortable summer, they’ve seemingly been proven wrong.
At this precise moment, the Gunners sit just outside the top four having already made it through to the last 16 of this season’s Champions League.
That’s a pretty impressive feat, when you consider the players that have left, the injuries they’ve had to contend with and the relatively meager amount Wenger spent in the summer to plug the holes.
With back-to-back home games against Wolves and QPR things promise to get even better for the Londoners as they reach the halfway point in the season.
In particular, they’ll be licking their lips about tomorrow’s game against a struggling side they’ve beaten in each of their last 6 Premier League matches.
Yes, whilst Wolves have been able to upset City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs since returning to the top division, Arsenal have been a tougher nut to crack.
We came agonisingly close to taking a point from the Emirates two years ago and probably should have got a draw in last season’s home match.
That said, we were soundly thumped by them 2-0 back in February in one of the most one-sided matches I’ve ever seen. Robin van Persie scored both goals that day and if the Dutchman is in the mood again tomorrow, our prospects will be decidedly bleak.
The Team
I have no idea what Mick will do tomorrow and I have no idea what I’d do either. Play 442 and we’re likely to be carved open at will, play 451 and they’ll camp inside our half and probably pick us off. It’s a tricky one.
This is my guess at the starting XI:
So that’s Dave Edwards straight back in for his work-rate, with SEB dropping out to leave Fletch as the lone forward.
Prediction League
5 of you correctly predicted the Norwich game would end in a draw with 3 also getting the 2-2 scoreline.
Well done to Louie, Ad Mant and Rich for getting the maximum. Ask K and Stourbridge Wolf take a single point.
Logically, I really can’t see a way we’ll take anything from this match.
However, purely because we’re due a result against Arsenal and you normally achieve at least one upset a year, I’ll go for the most unlikely of Wolves wins.
2-1 to the old gold.
If you’re one of those dedicated souls making the trip down to London tomorrow, have a great time and get right behind the lads.
Up The Wolves.
Optimistic Thomas.
We will lose this. Van Persie will score.
I’ll go, sadly, for a 2 – 0 loss to Arsenal. I hope we can limit it to that to be honest.
I’m going for 2-1 as well… but to be honest, that’s based on nothing – I’m just thinking to hell with our recent form, let’s get an upset! I can see RVP really causing our defence problems though – I’m 90% sure that he will score a goal tomorrow!
A result would be nice before the hopefully successful transfer window!
I think we’ll get a result.
The only way we won’t is if the game doesn’t take place!!!
Of course, the result will not be the one we want.
No way we will get anything from this game or the next.
If we can’t beat Stoke and Norwich at home, then it’s Goodnight Irene.
At least 3 – 0 to the Gunners.
FOMM
High on seasonal brandy, and ever the optimist, I think we’ll actually score!
Arse 3-1 Wolves.
Brave prediction by Thomas and Hamlet but if Wolves win this one i think it will be up there with the greatest christmas miracles of all time – i will try and tempt fate to prove me wrong and say 3-0 Arsenal – actually fear we might only take 1 or 2 points from the next 4 matches.
I can’t see us getting anything out of this match. Arsenal will run circles around us and I wouldn’t be surprised to see RVP get a hat-trick!
Arsenal 4-0 Wolves.
Might as well write this one off as Mick will persist with 442 when we don’t have the personnel, or sticking players in the wrong position (Hunt on the right). Arsenal to claim their easiest win of the season.
Down with McCarthy, we’re going down with McCarthy…
Optimistic
1-1
5-0 Arsenal, if RVP plays… Which it looks like he will, he tears apart our central defense…
I pray that I am wrong though
1-1
A point would definitely be a victory for us.
Three points against bolton
An upset against chelsea?
Possibly the best semi-realistic scenario?
One down. Two to go.
Can’t see us getting anything against the Gunners. 2-0 to Arsenal.
7-1 gooners, one step closer to the championshit
4-1 gunners fletcher gets ours
Just what’s been told already, we’ve never won any points playing Arsenal. Can’t see being any different now. 4-0 defeat.
Battered tomorrow, 3-0 defeat. Lose against Bolton and a new manager in for Chelsea fingers crossed.
I’m with you, Bazza. I never want to see Wolves lose, but if it means getting rid of McNumpty then maybe a few defeats to Arsenal and Bolton wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
We will be very lucky to get anything from this game.
3-0 defeat.
Owen Coyle could be available but if he talks any quicker i wont understand a word he is saying and he might just take off like a helicopter !
1 – 1, Johnson actually has a decent game game? Sorry, too much wine last night.
In the last seasons we have struggled against the gunners. The pause I think could favor us; let’s hope they have lost their rhythm. I fear we lose, but one never know. If we get a good start everything can happen.
prediction: 1-1
Wolves 1 – arsenal 4. Merry Christmas everyone.
Arsenal 4-2 Wolves, they’re carp at the back, worse than us, just much better than us going forward. I’m happy we’re not already in the bottom three but if you look at the games to come its not going to be long before we are. Happy Christmas
Worse than us at the back? I’m not so sure, but I get your point.
2-2 Wolves outstanding
Worst thing is I’ll be at the in-laws during the match and they’re all die-hard Gooners. 3-0 Arsenal. Can’t see much out of this.
Yeah reality strikes again a very lucky 3-0 loss should probably be 8-0. Arsenal leave shooting boots at home and Walcott misses 5 gilt edges chances. We are terrible cut to ribbons and dont get a shot on target.
There were some surprise results today are Wolves going to buck history ??? note: i have just a opened bottle of Jack Daniels.
Wolves 0 Arsenal 3
The players will be outclassed on the pitch and Arsene will as always outclass Mick tactically. We will get nothing from this game and the result will add further to our misery.
I like this website and try to understand every point of view offered but the negativity and resentment of some suggests no understanding of Wolves recent past and potential future.
Rather than no understanding of Wolves’ recent past and potential future, I have no understanding of your comment. I reckon that there is quite a lot of positives spoken about Wolves on here and there sure is a whole heap of love for the club. The recent history surely suggests a trancing, I know we don’t ever seem to get hammered by six, seven or eight and on most occasions we put up a noble fight, but surely you can see that we need a bit more than that, especially against the likes of Arsenal. You never know though we might turn in a heroic performance and earn a low scoring draw or a 0-1 win using the roper dope, here’s hoping. Yeah, we have strong potential with the club setup, finances and to some extent the team but unless they start to coach them to play as though they’ve earned the right to be in the top flight, our short term future is looking pretty dim.
I know what he means actually – look at this page, there’s comments such as ‘we are terrible’, ‘a very lucky 3-0 [loss]’ and ‘one step closer to the championshit’… Perhaps some are exaggerations but the sentiment is there!
You do get positivity on here – it’s just that there’s not much to be positive about when Wolves have such a crap run of form!
Colin/Hamlet – at the time of writing I think 22 out of 27 have predicted Wolves to lose. Given Arsenal are 1/4 on to win with most bookmakers (ie. they’ll win 4 times out of 5) it seems to me that Wolvesblog readers have this one just about spot on.
Well, I know we’ve drawn the game now but of course most people would have us down to lose – it’s the manner in which they had said it and this going on about how obviously rubbish we were going to be! That’s not everyone but there were some!
It’ll be Arsenal 2. + however many more they can score so hopefully
2-3 in our favour. (End of blurry dream scene….) UTW. !
Arsenal 3
Wolves 1
Arsenal 4 Wolves 1
Come on Yoda….. At least put “it is” on the end. Don’t get lazy.
McCarthy will outwit Wenger by sitting back and luring them onto the sucker punch of incisive pacy rapier like counter attack. Just joking of course. 3-0 to the gooners.
Arsenal are too good for us – even their seconds seem to carve us open. Arsenal 2 – wolves 0
I can’t see our record at the Emirates getting any better. I just hope Van Persie goes easy on us. 2-0 to the Gooners.
I hope we win but we won’t.
Optimistically a draw.
Realistically a loss, perhaps 5-0.
Just hope we play with some verve, passion and enthusiasm.
As Kipling said so long ago:
“And when that last great score is done
“It matters not who lost or won
“But if you play the game.”
Often we do not play as if we have a chance.
To me that is not playing the game and it is my biggest gripe with McNumpty.
Sometimes you can see from the players demeanour the ‘manager’ has told them they don’t have a chance.
This afternoon I don’t care if we lose, for like others it will be another nail in McNumpty’s inevitable coffin.
However let’s ‘play the game’, from the off, like we have a chance, win, lose or draw…..
Wolves recent past and potential future.
Well the club has admittedly come a long way and made progress over the last 3 seasons but should the potential future need to include struggling again, with a third relegation battle on our hands.
The owner doesn`t think so complaining publically about the £50m he has given MM, and even Moxey says we have underperformed. Frankly its all down to the manager, he`s got us this far, but can he go the extra mile this season. I suspect he is under intense pressure to get results and keep us in this league. Given Arsenal on thier day are the best team at pass and move at pace, while we can`t tackle and continue to struggle against genuine pace. Its hardly surprising contributors are negative on this blog, i`d say realistic not negative however unpalatable the truth can be. If we keep it to 2-0 I`d be happy as goal difference counts.
I hope we revert to a 451, playing 442 would be a disaster waiting to happen. Thyen again the beauty of football is that there have been some strange results over the Festive period, maybe we could nick a point, thyen 3 at Bolton. Ever the optimistic – us Wolves fans.
I’ve had the mother in law staying for 5 days, the wife’s boring family over for Christmas Day, blown the head gasket on my truck………………..I need some cheer real bad!!!!
Good news is I’m taking mother in law to airport for 8.00am, wife to work for 8.30am and back home to watch match live by 9.00am.
So, revised hope, we will win.
FOMM
Arsenal 5-2 Wolves
RVP is unstoppable at the moment and we can’t stop much so it’s a Christmas hangover…
Arsenal 4 Wolves 0
Stephen Ward to manmark RVP out of the match and Doyler to rediscover that scoring feeling…
Gooners 0-2 Wolves
Forde’s getting a start!
Nice. Hope the young man does well.
Stephen Ward to manmark RVP out of the match and Doyler to rediscover that scoring feeling after an early Arsenal goal (ahem)…
Gooners 1-2 Wolves
Superb rearguard action! Brilliant Hennessey. Well played all the rest of the lads.
Poor Nenad – that was never a straight red (and coming 5 minutes after Song had cynically hacked Fletcher and Hunt with no eye for the ball at all, and only got a yellow, it seemed doubly harsh).
Agree with all of that, very well played, very harsh red for Milijas after what appeared like an obvious red for Song.
If we can keep that intensity going then we’ll grab a few more points then perhaps we’ll find a bit of confidence.
What an Xmas present!
Saw match on stream.
‘We played the game.’
Hennessey superb.
Johnson finally showed us why we bought him.
Milijas, should play every week……..
These three stood out for me, though everyone played their part.
Great point, think even Clive will have been impressed……
i suggest you think again
Yes I have noticed that Clive is not impressed.
Ward tired badly after about 80 minutes.
Nevertheless, despite his ‘Scrooge like’ analysis, there were signs of improvement, even he, begrudgingly, admits too.
What will he say if we beat Bolton and Ward scores the winner?
FOMMM
Superb display from Hennessey
Shocker by Atwell, how he only booked Song for the hack on Hunt & then send Milijas off !!
Great poachers goal by Fletch
Great performance? It was a great result, but we were crap as usual. We didn’t retain possession, constantly looked for Jarvis to create things (I could count the number of attacks that went down the right on one hand) and we had to rely on Fletcher again to grab the goal. Without Hennessey, we’d have lost this by three or four goals.
Granted, it was Arsenal and no one can question the team spirit and desire. But our complete lack of quality and inept manager will see us struggling at the bottom of the league again. Mick out.
…Seriously? You’re really not happy?
I missed the match, so perhaps I’m not one to talk but by the sound of it Arsenal really pressed us and yet we held firm and managed a draw, even when Milijas was sent off! And here I thought that Wolves had the worst defence in the league!
You know, if it wasn’t for RVP Arsenal would be mid-table… one player really can make a lot of difference!
I’m delighted with the result, but all I’m hearing from Wolves fans tonight is what fantastic team spirit the players have. That’s simply not enough for this league, but it’s good enough for Mick McCarthy which is why we’ll always struggle.
Battling performances have seen us pick up just one point against Stoke and Norwich and those are the games that really matter. Without quality additions and a tactically-sound manager who puts players in the right position, we’ll
keep dropping points against teams around us.
Mick out.
That great spirit has served us well in the last two years, and will do so again.
great spirit, total lack of quality. We looked like a non league team forcing a replay in the FA Cup. Reminder this is our 3rd season in the prem.
No. In the first half, there were times where we couldn’t get the ball off them, but there were also times where we stringed a few passes together and caused them trouble. Jarvis was a threat when he got the ball, Milijas picked out some great passes and Fletch is always dangerous. In the second half we hung on and defended brilliantly.
You remind me we are in our third season, why does that mean we should not be defending against Arsenal?
I admire your attempts to defend the team and manager, Louie. But you can’t argue with the facts: This season, Wolves have lost 10, drawn four and won four – hardly the best record for a club in its third Premier League season.
We’ve failed to beat any of the three promoted clubs at Molineux and currently lie 17th with just two points above the drop zone. Christ, even Jez Moxey has admitted we’ve underachieved.
Yesterday was a fantastic result, but as mentioned in a previous post it’s what we do against the likes of Stoke, Norwich, QPR, West Brom and Swansea that will define our season – teams that have all taken points off us.
We might well stay up again by the virtue of three teams being worse than us. But if we retain the same manager and fail to bring in better players, we’ll suffer yet another season of turgid football while desperately clinging on for survival. You may be happy with that, but I’m not.
Mick out.
bah humbug. clive you have another apostle!
Where have I said we have done well this season?
Where have I said we haven’t under-achieved?
If it’s what we do against the small clubs, how on earth did we stay up last season? It’s about getting more points than the other teams, which we have done in the last two years (three teams worse than us or not).
FInally, where have I said that I’m happy with our position in the league? You will notice, that this season I have been questioning are manager at times, when he has got it wrong or if we have played shite football. Just because I’m an optimist, and believe in my team doesn’t make me happy with scrapping for survival (which we should be in our last year of our getting past that).
So you’ve not once backed the manager or the team this season during our awful run, Louie?
“If it’s what we do against the small clubs, how on earth did we stay up last season?”
We stayed up by beating some of the big boys in some scintillating games at Molineux. But I think it’s too much to expect us to do the same this season, which is why it’s so important to beat the teams around us.
“It’s about getting more points than the other teams, which we have done in the last two years (three teams worse than us or not).”
I agree with the sentiment, but I think this sums up our different expectations. Getting more points than the other clubs (I assume you mean more than three others) shows a complete lack of ambition in my book.
I’m not expecting us to sit comfortably in mid-table, but I expect us to take more than two points off the likes of Norwich, QPR and Swansea at Molineux. And I expect us to play some decent football instead of the rubbish that’s been served up this season. Is that really too much to ask?
While we see things differently, we do at least share one thing in common – we both want to see our club do well. I’d be delighted if Mick created a side that looked like it could compete every week against Premier League opposition instead of labouring to defeat and struggling among the relegation candidates.
If he manages that, I’ll happily eat humble pie. But I just don’t think McCarthy is good enough to establish Wolves in the Premier League.
Again, where did I say I haven’t backed the team? Of course I have! I’m a fuckin’ Wolves fan!
I don’t care which teams we beat, all I care about is accumulating more points than at least three teams. Yes, we need to kick on but the more years we are in the league, with the size of club we are we will become a more attractive name to better players.
Not sure what else you expect against Arsenal in London. They are better at every spot on the field and we had the two major decisions, Song and Milijas, go against us. Now if they can only manage to bottle that defensive performance and bring it against Bolton.
rob in london should have a look in wednesday’s independent to see the statistical proof that he’s talking utter shite about our attacks down the right
What a compelling, thought-provoking argument that is Ebeneezer. Ever thought of joining a debating society?
My point is in recent games most of our attacking play has come down the left. Even against Arsenal, we relied solely on Jarvis to create chances. The team generally has had no balance with Hunt playing on the right on recent games. Whether Forde can provide an outlet remains to be seen, but why not give Hammill, a natural right winger, a go?
yeah sorry christopher hitchens, i didn’t realise a diagram would give you problems. pomposity aside, your argument provoked only one thought.
Apology accepted.
And I thought only Ferguson was allowed to have “homer” refs.
Nearly smashed the tv when Song got off with only a booking. That really strengthens my belief that there should be retro red cards awarded as well as rescinded, as currently in the rule book.
And then to add further insult, he sends Milijas off when he actually played the ball.
Disgusting.
Hennessey was arms and shoulders man of the match, and apart from him, we had no one outstanding.
That said, it was a tremendous collective rearguard action, and we deserved the point.
Thought we could have been 2 up before they scored, Jarvis dithered too much when he could have shot.
Have to agree we had no threat up front, and my other question is:
Although it’s a known fact we have no pace in our side, why do we not have players who can one touch pass the ball?
You can get by without pace if you can find your team mates…..we cant, and our first touch control is piss poor as well.
This is another nail in the coffin of our coaching staff.
However, as I said, we thoroughly deserved a point today, well done the lads.
FOMM
I guess I can’t complain with a point! Now for Bolton…that’s the real test to see if we can kick on
Can anyone argue that our Wayne isn’t Prem quality anymore?
The boy has become a man. Outstanding performances aside, his growing confidence is apparent on and off the pitch. He has going his voice in the pitch and he speaks so well in post match I interviews. The players are startin to gravitate towards him during the game and he seems to be a rock of support.
Great result after some bizarre decisions. Hard to disagree with Wenger that they’d have won that game 19 times out of 20 but I guess you earn your luck through hard work. Shows what we can achieve playing 451 with a forward who can score goals though.
I’m wondering if I was watching the same game.
Both Johnson and Milijas to me were outstanding outfield players yesterday.
It wasn’t just Hennessey.
Wayne’s performance will probably go down as the outstanding performance by a goalie this season, but everyone played their part.
Let’s hope we retain and gain confidence from the performance, enough for us to get a win at Bolton.