Arsenal’s incredible clean sheet record helps them bounce back

When Gabriel nudged a loose ball over the line to break the scoreless tie open at 1-0, it might not have been clear to many – if anyone – that that would be the final score of the match. It came relatively early on in the match, and both Arsenal and Wolverhampton, in sixth and eighth place respectively, seriously needed the victory and three points going into their next match and before the two meet again at the end of the month.

Yet it was the final goal, and this goal in the 25th minute by the Brazilian centre-back held up even after the absolutely incredible double yellow card that the other Brazilian Gabriel – Martinelli, not Magalhaes – “earned” in the 69th minute of the match. The Gunners were then left to deal with a Wolves attack for the next 20 minutes plus stoppage time.

By the time the final whistle was blown and the clean sheet was preserved, you’re d*mn right the boys were all happy. Ruben Neves can moan all he wants.

There is nothing wrong with a bit of happiness and celebration after a hard-fought, statement victory, scrapped together despite some clumsy plays and mistakes. The game should have at least been 2-0, as Alexandre Lacazette missed a goal opportunity that, I fear, Alexander Isak or Dusan Vlahovic would have never missed.

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Arsenal: No Europe, no cups, no problem? Another superb clean sheet in the Premier League could be key to securing top four

But despite the sour grapes, Arsenal won, won with a clean sheet, and have set themselves up, with grit, and a bit of luck as always, to do major things in the coming months. That’s now 11 shutouts in the 19 Premier League matches Aaron Ramsdale has played for the club, and that stability is going to continue being key for the remainder of the campaign.

Arsenal will have to get through the rest of the month of February first, however, which will include a revenge London derby, this time in north London, against Brentford, before hosting Wolves as well to finish out the month.

March is, for now, a relatively empty month, but makeup matches against Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool still must be addressed before the season is complete. I will not be able to properly prognosticate until the full run of matches in their order and date have been announced, but those matches aside, Arsenal are not stuck with the most difficult remaining schedule imaginable.

In the race for the Premier League top four – or close anyway – Arsenal are in a delicate position. On the one hand, one might say that the Gunners, with no other competitions to concern themselves with other than the Premier League, should be more fresh than some of the other teams and so should be ready to pack a punch in every meeting from here on out.

Yet on the other, it is really all or nothing for the Gunners: should they fail to climb into a European position – some European position – the season will surely be considered a great waste with no domestic triumphs to show for their trouble either. Arsenal must not become complacent and must really take advantage of the matches that lie ready for the taking, as the really difficult games that do exist on the schedule will not all go the way supporters and the team will fancy.

Games against Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool will trouble this team, as will the matches against both Manchester United and West Ham United. The other games, however, while not simple by any means, should be ties that Arsenal feel good about as they go through the months ahead.

Matches against Watford, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton follow the second game against Wolves this month, and while 15 points cannot be expected from this run that will take Arsenal through March and into April, nine to 12 points would be a good get before matches with the Red Devils and Hammers ratchet up the intensity and expectations.

To finish up the year – for now – Arsenal will face Leeds United, Newcastle United and finally Everton. Those too, at least on the surface at this moment, should not be matches that trouble the Gunners too much, although all three teams are better than their records indicate. But other than five matches in particular, the remaining 11 matches are winnable, and should those 11 be won outright, it would be fascinating to see if the Arsenal managed to get into the Champions League that way.

This will not happen, though. I don’t believe, anyway. Arsenal will win some matches no one thinks they should and fumble other matches that no one thinks they could, and it will all, one way or another, balance itself out by the time the Gunners face Everton on the final dau. The rest of the season is going to be a lot of fun, and is something that, currently, can’t be properly predicted – yet.