Arsenal found their winning touch again as they secured a 2-0 victory away at Wolves to go back to the top of the Premier League.
However, it was a victory in which Arsenal were far from their best, and a busy recent fixture schedule appeared to catch up with some members of the team.
Arsenal did control the game well for the most part, but did look lethargic in attack at times, with some attacking players clearly miles away from peak fitness conditions.
Mikel Arteta has been criticised recently for his reluctance to rotate his squad, and Bukayo Saka in particular is a player who could have benefitted from more rest.
Arteta did make three changes from the side who lost to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but with tough games against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur coming up within the next week, rest for more key players would have been ideal.
Arsenal stars looked exhausted in victory at Wolves
It took Arsenal nearly the entire first half before Leandro Trossard found the breakthrough in front of goal, and it was clear that fatigue was affecting the players in attacking positions.
The likes of Martin Odegaard and Saka have played a lot of minutes this season, with little rest in recent weeks, and both could not find their cutting edge in front of goal.
Arsenal toiled for a lot of the game, and fresh legs off the bench could have made the win against a depleted Wolves side more comfortable.
However, Arteta caused a lot of confusion, as he used just two of his five possible substitutes against Wolves, with Saka playing for the entire game.
Mikel Arteta made just two substitutions in Arsenal win at Wolves
With Saka, Ben White, Odegaard and Declan Rice just a few of Arsenal’s stars who have played a lot of minutes in recent weeks, not a single one of them was withdrawn in the win at Wolves.
Goalscorer Trossard was eventually replaced by Gabriel Martinelli on the wing, who injected a bit of speed into the Arsenal attack.
Gabriel Jesus, who set up Trossard’s goal, was replaced by Thomas Partey, who slotted into a midfield role.
However, the likes of Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe and Oleksandr Zinchenko remained on the bench as they did against Bayern, whilst the key players continued to exhaust themselves, with little benefit on the pitch.
Making just two substitutes was a surprising move, and one which could come back to bite Arsenal later.
Given that Arteta recently called for the Premier League to aid clubs competing with Europe when it comes to scheduling, for him to disregard the possible negatives of fatigue, as well as the lack of match sharpness for his bench players, this was a decision which may be scrutinised later on in the season.