Arsenal anxiety increases as title hopes hit by poor performance on wet Wednesday night in Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) 2 v Arsenal (1) 2

Premier League

Matchweek 27

Talking Points

By Kaz Mochlinski at Molineux

This time there was no positivity from Mikel Arteta. Unlike previous draws recently, Arsenal being held 2-2 at Wolverhampton Wanderers was not viewed as one point gained but unequivocally two points dropped.

“Extremely disappointed, obviously, with the result, with the way the game ended” admitted the Arsenal manager after his side surrendered a two-goal lead and conceded a 94th minute equaliser against the Premier League’s bottom club.

“But we have to blame ourselves. I think the performance in the second half didn’t show anything close to the standards that are required in this league to win, with the margin that I think should have existed today, especially in the manner that we played the first half.

“It’s a moment of disappointment. We all want to talk a lot about how we’re feeling, but it’s not the moment to do that, because anything that we do has to always and only be with the intention to help the team.

“Right now, I think we have to swallow that frustration. When you are at this level and at the top, you need to take the hits - because today we deserve them as well - and move on as quickly as possible, because on Sunday we have a big game coming up.”

Arsenal will go into the North London derby at Tottenham Hotspur this weekend with only two wins in their last seven league matches. Since the start of 2026, they have picked up just 13 points out of a possible 24.

The Gunners still top the table, and the point at Wolves extended their lead, but it was a draw which felt like a defeat. Not overcoming opponents heading for relegation was desperately disappointing, and the way it happened could hardly have been worse.

Any team with title aspirations will inevitably have to get through moments of adversity, and to become league champions in England there may well be the necessity to have to do it on a wet Wednesday night in Wolverhampton.

For Arsenal’s visit there was the addition of a freezing wind and more sleet than icy rain. Almost any contact in the conditions had the potential to be painful, and Wolves did not have any problem in providing a properly physical contest.

It was obvious that the away side soon stopped enjoying the experience. One Arsenal player after another went down injured in the second half - and ultimately the Gunners let in the leveller in the resulting injury time added on at the end of the 90 minutes.

Yet there is no way that should have materialised once Bukayo Saka had scored in the fifth minute to end his run of 15 goalless games, and Piero Hincapié got his first goal for Arsenal soon after half-time.

Barely five minutes later, the Wolves left-back Hugo Bueno was given time and space to register his first ever goal in the Premier League, two seasons after his only prior strike as a professional footballer, which came in the FA Cup.

Even more inexcusably, Tom Edozie was able to score 10 minutes into his debut as a substitute at the age of 19, having been training with the first team squad for just two weeks and not even had his name and number 74 included in the official programme.

There had never in Premier League history been a side at the foot of the table which avoided losing to the leaders after trailing by two goals or more. Worryingly for Arsenal, they have now been in front but failed to win in three of their last five league matches.

In all in 2026 the Gunners have dropped seven points from winning positions, with solely Crystal Palace and West Ham United having a worse record in the Premier League during this period (both squandering eight points).

“I think any question, any criticism, any opinion, you have to take it on the chin today” acknowledged Arteta. “I think that’s it. Any hit, any bullet - take it, because we didn’t perform at the level that is required.

“Anything that anybody says can be right, because we didn’t do what we had to do. The way to do it is on that pitch on Sunday, in a great opportunity that we have.

“We’ve always done it, but you’re as strong if you show it the next time you do it. To talk and say it here it’s simple, and we have to do it on the pitch.”

His words resonated with the travelling supporters, avoiding platitudes and reflecting what they had seen from the stands at Molineux. Regular Arsenal watchers categorised it as the poorest performance of the season, and some as the worst under Arteta.

“This is nothing to do with attitude or desire” insisted the Gunners’ boss as he sought some sort of explanation. “It’s completely the opposite. It’s part of football. Whatever could have gone wrong today, it went wrong.

“Because, when you look at the way we conceded the two goals, without really conceding any other situations, it’s very rare. But it happened, and it happened for a reason, and we need to react to that.”

Arteta is absolutely accurate in Wolves having only two attempts on target and scoring two goals, without David Raya otherwise having to make a single save. However, he is clearly wary of addressing the evident nervousness shown by his players.

Leandro Trossard time-wasting before the equaliser; Raya and Gabriel Magalhães clashing to give away the late goal then arguing about it; substitute Eberechi Eze slicing wide to miss the chance for a winner; plus the confrontations at the final whistle.

“If you are at the top, and you have to win, you have to win and win and win. That’s nothing new. Everything will be like this from the first game when they play for Arsenal. I think we need to go through the pain.

“And you need to go through that looking in the mirror and understanding what the game requires now, and the next action is on Sunday. That’s it. Anything that we say from here today is fine, but we need to keep all that in our tummies.

To show it on Sunday. That’s what we have to do.”

The Arsenal fans early on were singing “Down with the Tottenham, you’re going down with the Tottenham!” At the conclusion of the evening drama, the Wolves crowd became the latest to chant “Second again, olé, olé!” towards the Gunners.

They are hearing it at every ground now. And their anxiety about being repeat runners-up is increasing. But for the moment they are still in first place and cannot be imminently overtaken.

On Ash Wednesday, it would be tempting to write off Arsenal’s hopes of the Premier League title as crumbling into ashes. Their hope has to be that this has been an aberration and they can put it right. Starting at Spurs on Sunday.