soccer

Wolves v Arsenal: Key stats and talking points

Top faces bottom as Arsenal travel to Wolves looking to extend their lead over Manchester City to seven points.

BBC Sport looks at the main talking points going into Wednesday's meeting at Molineux.

After booking their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2020, Arsenal return to the small matter of attempting to end their 22-year wait for a Premier League title.

In beating League One side Wigan they became first Premier League team to score four goals in the opening 30 minutes of an FA Cup tie, which was a good way to blow the cobwebs away after their disappointing draw with Brentford.

That result, which made it just two wins from six league games, prompted a slew of articles and filled the airwaves with debate over their title credentials with Manchester City breathing down their necks.

On paper, though, Wolves are the ideal opposition to get back on track and extend their lead to seven points given their incredible recent form against the West Midlands side.

The Gunners have won nine on the spin against Wolves, while nine victories in 11 at Molineux is their best record against a side they have played 10 or more times away from home in the Premier League.

But maybe the most impressive statistic is their run of scoring in 36 successive matches against Wanderers, a streak that can only be beaten in English football history by Wrexham's 49 games versus Darlington between 1929 and 1961.

Add in the fact that Arsenal have won their past 14 league matches against teams in the bottom three by an aggregate score of 40-4, then the odds are heavily stacked in favour of an away win.

[BBC]

Wolves' cup cheer in 'dark season'

Despite their grim record against Arsenal, Wolves deserve credit for their performance at Emirates Stadium in December- a game they only lost via two own goals, one of which was in the 94th minute.

They also picked up a morale boosting FA Cup win at the weekend, beating Grimsby away in a banana skin of a fixture played on a quagmire of a pitch. It put them into the fifth round for the third consecutive season for the first time since 1978-79 to 1980-81.

"It's been a really dark season, I suppose. A little bit of something for the fans to chat about, something to try to build more momentum going forward, is really, really important," said head coach Rob Edwards of their cup exploits.

But while performances have improved since Edwards came in, they remain 18 points from safety with just 36 available.

While relegation is almost inevitable, a key target will be surpassing Derby's mark for the lowest points tally for a Premier League season of 11 set in 2007-08.

Doing so against Arsenal might be a stretch, especially as they have lost 10 of their 13 home league matches at Molineux this season - a figure they have only surpassed twice before in a top-flight campaign (11 in 1964-65 and 13 in 2011-12).

They have also failed to score in 14 of their league matches this season.

Graphic showing the most Premier League games that a team has failed to score in this season
[BBC]

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