Arsenal can follow specific Liverpool example in Premier League title race after "worst" Wolves performance

Arsenal can take inspiration from a smash-and-grab Liverpool win last season after their unconvincing 2-1 Premier League success over Wolverhampton Wanderers, expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.

Mikel Arteta's men were anticipated to blow Wolves away in Saturday's top-vs-bottom clash at the Emirates, but the Gunners were a shadow of their best selves and almost dropped two points in catastrophic circumstances.

Arsenal needed a freak Sam Johnstone own goal to take the lead, before Old Gold substitute Tolu Arokodare headed in a late leveller in front of a delirious away end to seemingly steal a point for the visitors, until fate cruelly struck for Rob Edwards's men.

In the fourth minute of injury time, Yerson Mosquera nodded Bukayo Saka's delivery into his own net to gift Arsenal all three points and ensure that Arteta's side would maintain a two-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

While Watts was under no illusions that Saturday was Arsenal's worst display of the season so far, he also highlighted Liverpool's 3-2 win over a doomed Southampton side last season, in which the holders needed a late Mohamed Salah goal to triumph.

“Definitely the worst performance of the season," Watts said. "The important thing is they won, and the other important thing is that they don't let that performance creep into their game.

Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: 'No-one remembers Southampton 2-3 Liverpool'

“It was so un-Arsenal-like, that made it even more stark. You saw the reaction, from Declan Rice and everyone, it was just a weird feel on that full-time whistle. We got away with one, we can't play that badly again. It was one of those games you want to put in the rearview mirror and forget about.

“No-one remembers Liverpool going to Southampton last season, coming from behind and winning 3-2 thanks to a scrappy goal late on from a goalkeeping error. And that Southampton side are arguably one of the worst teams ever in the Premier League.

“So if Arsenal go on to win the title, hopefully we don't talk about it again.”

A near full-strength Arsenal attack were nullified by Wolves' rigid backline, so much so that it took 66 minutes for the Gunners to have their first shot on target during the match.

Not since January 2019 had Arsenal gone so long without registering a shot on target in a Premier League game, as all of Eberechi Eze, Gabriel Martinelli - who wasted some golden chances - and Viktor Gyokeres flattered to deceive in North London.

Arteta's men came up against a Wolves crop who are on course to go down with the lowest Premier League points total in history, but Edwards's men defied their position to give Arsenal an excellent run for their money.

Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: Charles Watts's "big worry" from Premier League performance

Watts therefore believes that the table is not a true reflection of Wolves' quality, and he admitted that Arsenal were likely a bit too complacent against their visitors.

“They will say no, but there probably was a little bit," he added. "No matter who you play against, if you start off a bit complacent, not zipping the ball around, it's very hard to suddenly step it up a gear.

“You get into that routine, the opposition just grow in confidence with each minute that ticks by. And to be fair to Wolves, they didn't look like a side that only had two points. They looked a lot better than some of the other teams I've seen, so I do think their position and points tally is a bit skewed in terms of how decent they are.

“They’re going to go down, but they're going to pick up more points. So there probably was a bit of complacency from Arsenal. They moved the ball too slowly, got into that rut, couldn't really get themselves out of it, and it never really looked like a goal was coming. That was the big worry.”

Arsenal now have a welcome week off before Saturday's Premier League trip to Sunderland, and the Gunners could be bumped down to second by the time their game kicks off if Manchester City beat West Ham United during the afternoon.

> Click here to listen to the full reaction to Arsenal's 2-1 win over Wolves