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Wolves v Arsenal: Controversy Sparks as Wolves end Nine Men Arsenal’s Unbeaten Streak

By Megan Garbutt

Arsenal's French-born Ivorian midfielder Nicolas Pepe celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal at the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, central England on February 2, 2021. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CATHERINE IVILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal's French-born Ivorian midfielder Nicolas Pepe celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal at the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton, central England on February 2, 2021. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by CATHERINE IVILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Midfield Duo prove to be solid

Arsenal
Granit Xhaka of Arsenal (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

Arsenal have struggled to find a strong midfield pairing who can bounce of each other and work well together as much as Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey have been recently, but it’s definitely another highlight to take from the game.

Towards the start of the game, Partey was making some brilliant and very accurate passes up the field to encourage the play in the final third and one particular pass to mention was the long-ball that found Saka when he unfortunately hit the inside of the post within the first couple of minutes. The Ghanaian made a total of 49 accurate passes, with teammate Xhaka adding 72 accurate passes to his stat.

The pair work extremely well together and in a game that could go either way up until the final whistle, they proved they didn’t want to give up.

They had a combined pass accuracy of 89% and controlled the midfield very well. Xhaka certainly had most possibly his best game of the season so far, taking the most touches, completing the most passes, as well as making the most tackles and ball recoveries.

The signing of Partey and the improvement of Xhaka in recent weeks has certainly been paying off and they will certainly need to be switched on especially for the next few games since certain players won’t be available.

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