Manager Mikel Arteta said after the Villa defeat that anyone who thinks Arsenal “are going to be 10 points clear lives in a different world”, adding: “We are going to have to prove we can cope again, again, again for another six months.”
His side have coped just fine for much of the season, going 18 matches unbeaten until last weekend. On Wednesday, they became only the fourth English team to start a Champions League campaign with six successive wins – all but securing their place in the knockout phase.
The Gunners were missing eight players against Club Brugge because of injury or illness, but were able to give Gabriel Jesus his first appearance for 332 days after the Brazilian recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, as well as a debut to 16-year-old Marli Salmon.
Unwanted records mount for Wolves
Wolves have lost eight successive league matches against Arsenal and their dire form in general is laid bare by the fact their most recent win came six days after Easter.
Wolves are winless in 19 Premier League games and have lost their past eight in a row. Both runs are the joint longest in their league history, equalling unwanted club records set in the early and mid-1980s.
Furthermore, their tally of two points this season is the joint lowest after 15 games of a campaign in English league history, while their winless start is just two matches short of the Premier League record of 17 set by Sheffield United in 2020-21.
