Preview: Arsenal look for festive cheer against Wolves

The Boxing Day matches turned out to be very kind on the underdogs, with much-fancied Chelsea and Liverpool dropping points at home against Fulham and Blackburn respectively, teams that really should be put to the sword if titles are to be won. In addition, table-topping Manchester City were surprisingly reined in at West Brom, and could only come away with a 0-0 draw.

While Man City are too far away to think about realistically catching at the moment, the aforementioned two results should give Arsenal even more incentive to go out against Wolves on Tuesday and get the three points. The Gunners are on a good, potentially season-saving run (barring the odd blip like a hard fought 1-0 loss at Eastlands) and have eight wins in their last ten matches. Regardless of tiredness resulting from fixture congestion, they will be chomping at the bit to beat Wolves and end the year inside the top four.

Arsenal – no more hara-kiri

Arsenal’s performances this season have been far removed from previous season’s avatars. While not as fluid at their swashbuckling best, Arsene Wenger’s men haven’t shot themselves in the foot with as much alarming consistency as they did last season, and before. Leads have been held on to, deficits have been overcome with consummate professionalism, and the average supporter doesn’t feel that all-encompassing terror as stoppage time approaches.

Most of this new-found resilience has been down to seasoned players who have brought discipline to the way Arsenal play. People like Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker and even Yossi Benayoun have vital experience under their belts, and this experience has seen the Gunners through in good stead after a nightmare start to the season.

Swinging easy since October

Another positive trait that Arsenal have displayed this season has been a uniform respect shown to all their opponents. There has been no waltzing onto the pitch, expecting the three points before the match has kicked off. The team has scrapped, earned the right to play and then picked opponents off. Continuing with this refreshing tradition, Wenger was wary of Wolves in his pre-match conference and paid tribute to the stellar job Mick McCarthy has done there so far.

Speaking to the official website, Wenger said-

“Mick McCarthy is doing miracles at Wolves,”

“He’s always ready for a fight, never gives up, keeps his steadiness and mental strength, never shows any strain. Its great what he does for his club. I believe they play extremely good football as well.

“It demands special strength from the manager to fight until the last day with the uncertainty sometimes whether you will stay up. A manager needs to be cool-blooded, strong, resilient and Mick McCarthy has all of these qualities.”

Talking of team news, Arsenal will miss Kieran Gibbs for another four weeks after the left-back needed further surgery on his hernia. With all other full-backs already out, Vermaelen is expected to fill in there against Wolves, with Wenger mulling over buying a short-term replacement in January. Another decision facing the Arsenal manager is whether to rest star-striker Robin van Persie for this game, with the team scheduled to play 3 games in 7 days.

Wolves – Team spirit and January signings

Wolves have managed to stay up and give a decent account of themselves since arriving on the Premier League scene a few years ago, but find themselves dangerously close to the drop zone come the New Year. Two wins in the last fifteen matches have resulted in a freefall for McCarthy’s men, which they will be looking to stall before the damage becomes irrevocable.

Tail between legs

McCarthy downplayed his side’s chances against Arsenal, but stopped short of disregarding a win altogether, reminding those present that Wolves had pulled off a huge upset by winning at Anfield this corresponding stage last season.

McCarthy said-

“We’re always planning three or four games down the line and I went to watch them against Manchester City.

“I don’t know if that’s given me information or made me a bit more fearful of going to Arsenal, because they were awesome against City.

“Teams are bound to have it tough over Christmas, that doesn’t bother me though.

“It doesn’t always work like that though – we went to Liverpool on Boxing Day, expected to get spanked but we won.”

One way to arrest Wolves’ downward slide would be to bring a few fresh faces in, and there have been rumours about a loan deal for Arsenal youngster Emmanuel Frimpong being in place, in addition to a couple of whispers about other players. McCarthy seemed forlorn when asked about January recruits however, stating that players find it difficult to perform at the desired level right from the off when they’re bought in January, a risk he’s unwilling to take with Wolves’ season on the line.

“I have a problem with the January transfer window in that it when you try to recruit players it can take players 2-3 months to settle down, especially if they’ve not played in the Barclays Premier League before,”

“We’ve got them here and they’ve admitted that they thought it was going to be easy and it’s turned out not to be easy. We’ve got other players that said it’s just too damn difficult for them.”

Wolves have no new injury worries ahead of the Arsenal trip, with Jody Craddock and David Edwards facing late fitness tests. Although they’re currently one place off the relegation spots, the margins are excruciatingly fine in the bottom-half of the table and a few well-earned points could see them shoot up very quickly indeed.

On paper, Arsenal are overwhelming favourites for this game, with Wolves not having picked up a single point at the Emirates in all attempts. But any lack of respect or casualness from Arsene Wenger’s men could prove fatal, as Wolves will fight for every second-ball and every loose pass. It’s all set up to be a cracking fixture.