Arsenal are back from their winter break trip to Dubai and should be well revitalized for their away game in the league against Wolverhampton Wanderers. These two sides have top four in their sights; Wolves going to this game with 34 points in eighth place as Arsenal go to the game placed sixth with 36 points. Wolves are coming from a shock loss, at home to Norwich City in the FA Cup and will be looking to bounce back. In their recent matches, Wolves, not known for their scoring prowess, have managed to raise the bar as far as attack is concerned. They have scored two or more goals in three of their last five matches but in their last 10 matches they’ve failed to score in five. Seven of their last 10 matches have produced under 2.5 goals.
The winter break couldn’t have come at a better time for Arsenal; they needed it to restrategize after a poor start to 2022. The Gunners go to this game winless in their last five games and have failed to score in the last four matches. So far in 2022, they’ve scored just one goal, in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City on New Year’s Day. They have suffered three losses in their last five matches and twice they’ve conceded two goals but they have two clean sheets too. By the time they face Wolves, Arsenal will have rested for 17 days and they should be able to do better than in the 0-0 draw with Burnley on 23rd January. While the Gunners released a number of players in the January window, they didn’t reinforce, but their injured and suspended players back then are back in contention.
This is not a game Arsenal have really done well in, but they have no option but to go for three points here to keep their top four hopes alive. Wolves have the same target, and will be hoping their dominance against Arsenal plays out again. Under 2.5 goals has been a common stat for these teams’ matches though, and we will back the same here.