Upon arrival at the Emirates Stadium, the Midlanders had only managed two draws from their 15 games, with no wins on the board, and scored only eight goals in a season that's fast becoming the worst-ever for any team in the English top-flight since it rebranded in the early 1990s.
Worst-ever EPL season in prospect?
The current record for lowest points is the 11 earned by Derby County in the 2007/08 season when they were relegated in late March; the earliest any team has suffered relegation.
Rob Edwards and his side therefore had a mountain to climb, not least because the Gunners had won all eight of the previous encounters between the sides, dating to February 2022. In that time, the Midlanders had scored just twice and conceded 17.
Both sides had made three changes to their starting XIs, with Toti Gomes making his 100th appearance for Wolves.
As might've been expected, the early onslaught came from the home side, Arsenal (52) having made over three times as many passes in the final third as Wolves' 16 in the opening half hour.
Wake-up call for Arsenal
That being said, it was the visitors' Hwang Hee-Chan who had the first shot on target from either side in the 26th minute.
If nothing else, it should've served as a wake-up call for the Gunners, and though they fired off half a dozen more shots before the break, none were on target.
Certainly, there was little wrong with their distribution, with all but Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres posting pass completion stats of above 80%.
The Swedish international's struggles continued in this game, which is either a damning indictment of his suitability for this Arsenal team or his colleagues' inability to feed him.
Just 15 touches in the match, including only three accurate passes before he was subbed off by Arteta, hints at the difficult moment he finds himself in at present.
Five-man midfield kept Gunners at bay
Although Wolves offered little in attack themselves, they had stopped Arsenal from scoring in the first half at the Emirates Stadium for the first time since a fixture against Manchester United in December 2024.
No mean feat for a team that already looks doomed to a spell in the Championship.
A five-man midfield stifled the creativity of Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka, with the central three of Joao Gomes, Andre and Ladislav Krejci key to keeping the Gunners at bay and forcing them to play down the channels.
Krejci was particularly industrious with 12 one-on-one duels attempted, and seven more aerially, whilst Gomes won two of his three tackles on the day.
Arteta's ire and frustration were clear, hauling Eze and Martinelli off before the hour, replacing them with Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard.
The former was soon into the thick of the action and helped the hosts to an incredible 84% collective possession in the 15 minutes directly after half-time.
No shot on target from Arsenal until the 68th minute
Six different Arsenal players had three or more touches in the opposition box by then, but no Wolves player had had more than one at the opposite end. Tactical fouls from the visitors were also eating up time and ensuring that the home support became very restless indeed.
Declan Rice finally managed a shot on target for Arsenal in the 68th minute - their longest wait for one in a Premier League home game since February 2016 (vs Leicester City).
Shortly after, the bad luck that has dogged Wolves all season reared its ugly head again, and a superb corner in from Saka was turned into his own net by visiting keeper Sam Johnstone.
Odegaard continued to drive the hosts forward, with two shots of his own at goal - only Rice and Martinelli had more in the game - and his passes were starting to find their target with alarming regularity.
Just five of his 29 attempts failed to connect with a teammate, as the Norwegian set about finding the pockets of space that would ultimately help his side to win the match a little more convincingly.
Wolves out of luck... again
In defence, Jurrien Timber remained on the front foot and consistently looked for an outball, finding Saka on no less than 20 occasions.
Whilst William Saliba and Piero Hincapie also posted excellent passing stats in the mid-90s, most of their passes (21 from Saliba, 19 from Hincapie) were, in fact, to each other.
That David Raya had only one save and one clearance to make in the whole game tells a story too, not to mention that his 15 passes saw him as one of 10 Arsenal players to have completed more passes than the Wolves player to have made the most in this match (Andre, 13).
However, three late subs from the visitors seemed to shift the momentum, and when Tolu Arokodare fired home, you could've heard a pin drop inside the Emirates Stadium, save for the celebrating Wolves supporters.
The goal was one of two shots on target from only three attempted, with Arsenal having 16 shots of their own and still only managing two on target themselves.
Football can often be the cruellest of mistresses, of course, and during stoppage time, Yerson Mosquera's own goal saw the hosts' lead restored.
A ninth loss in a row is Wolves' longest losing streak in the competition, though Arsenal can consider themselves incredibly fortunate to take all three points in what was a lacklustre display.
Catch up on the match with Flashscore.
