Wolves vs Arsenal: 4 key tactical areas to exploit

3. Wolves Have Defensive Preferences in Build Up

The way Wolves operate is well drilled, solid and effective, almost always starting from their defence.

With the fourth highest long passes p/90 behind Liverpool, Manchester City and Burnley, many of those come, apart from Jose Sa, from Conor Coady or Ruben Neves.

Interesting across their back three is that Coady is charge of the majority of the long raking cross-field balls, while Saiss will tend to play laterally down the line with more fizzed passes into feet. This variation plays to the different defenders’ skillsets, while also presenting an opportunity for Arsenal to plan their point of attack. It’s not a weakness, and instead an opening.

Raul Jimenez will always be a danger in the air if Wolves choose to go long, but either side of him in the 3-4-3 are usually Hwang Hee-Chan and Daniel Podence, neither of whom boast strong ability in aerial duels: Hee-Chan is just 5’9″, while Podence is the shortest player in the entire Premier League at just 5’3″.

Depending on how Arsenal want to press, leaving Coady to attempt those long diagonals might be the smartest option to take. If fit, Tomiyasu, for example, will eat up every single switch of play in one mouthful. Placing pressing triggers on Saiss and Kilman and leaving Coady centrally might be one of the tactical points picked up in the pre-match analysis.

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