Arsenal vs Wolverhampton: As long as we have Sokratis

Arsenal don’t have an easy road ahead, and they made it more difficult by losing to Crystal Palace. Still, Sokratis is back against Wolverhampton and that’s all that matters.

It really is amazing the difference that three points makes. Had Arsenal beat Crystal Palace, they would essentially have had a game in hand over Chelsea and Manchester United, and they’d be two points above Spurs. But they failed. And now they stay in fourth with no points to drop.

Wolverhampton are next, and if you’re nervous, you’re not alone. But on the bright side, Sokratis has served his suspension, and will be back out on the pitch against Wolves, holding down the fort in the way that we needed the fort held down against Palace.

This match figures to take on the usual ugly nature that all away matches do. Think of Napoli, Watford, Everton. None of them were attractive matches. They were all, in some way, ugly. Even against Napoli, the Gunners defense had to bear down and dig in, and they did that to utter perfection.

The difference between that fantastic defensive performance and the utter collapse against Palace? Sokratis. That was the difference. Sokratis was not available.

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Without Sokratis, Arsenal’s defense is very one-dimensional. They’ve got some great individual defenders, but they’re all so proactive and aggressive that it’s easy for them to get burnt in behind, or leave their mates exposed. Which is rough, when all their mates are the same, aggressive kind of midfielders.

Sokratis isn’t. Sokratis is aggressive, but in a reserved way. Which makes total sense. He doesn’t assault the ball. He waits for the ball carrier to come to him and then closes him down. Which is a drastic difference to Koscielny, Mustafi, Mavropanos, who all lash out.

That’s the big difference. And we are going to see against Wolverhampton what a difference it makes because, in case you haven’t noticed, we have yet to have a bad defensive match when Sokratis is out there with Laurent Koscielny. All of our worst matches have involved the absence of one or the other, without fail. Everton? No Koscielny. Crystal Palace? No Sokratis. Liverpool? No Koscielny.

Meanwhile, Napoli? Both were healthy for both matches. Manchester United? Both were healthy.

It’s obvious. And it should give us tremendous hope in this Wolverhampton match that both are available, and that both must therefore be be starting. Good things happen when they play together.