If Arsenal's availability worries weren't bad enough, the loss of young full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly for not just over 45 minutes against Wolves but also a further suspension moving forward, hurts. On Saturday, the teenager became the fourth Arsenal player to be sent off in the league this season.

Following on from Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, and William Saliba, Lewis-Skelly is the latest Arsenal name to be punished by the referees. But unlike on the previous occasions, Arsenal were able to take three points at Molineux.

Riccardo Calafiori, somewhat ironically the man who came on to fill in at left-back for Lewis-Skelly, grabbed the only goal of the game with his stunning effort just over 10 minutes from time. The result means that Arsenal keep pace with Liverpool, who unsurprisingly made light work of their home clash against Ipswich Town.

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Nottingham Forest's heavy away defeat to AFC Bournemouth means that the gap to third is now three points, though, with a key run of matches to come. Unfortunately, Lewis-Skelly will almost certainly be out for the next month's worth of league action.

His red card, which came after a late attempt to win the ball on the edge of the Wolves box following a corner, was given for 'serious foul play'. The Premier League match centre account on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed that Michael Oliver's decision to issue a straight red card was upheld after a check by VAR.

The officials at Stockley Park - Darren England and Adrian Holmes - reviewed the incident and felt Lewis-Skelly's studs coming down on to Matt Doherty's foot wasn't enough to warrant sending Oliver to his pitch-side monitor for another check. Lewis-Skelly connected on the corner of Doherty's ankle.

Despite the Wolves man being set to run through the centre of the pitch and the potential of it being seen as a last-man foul, the red card was not given for the denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity. According to Premier League rules, a violent conduct sending off will result in a three-match ban.

Arsenal can appeal the decision. It is rare that red cards and the subsequent bans are overturned, however. This means that Arsenal are likely to be without Lewis-Skelly for the home game against champions Manchester City next weekend.

There is then a break - while Arsenal go away on a warm-weather camp after being knocked out of the FA Cup. That is followed by a trip to Leicester City. Arteta and his squad then welcome West Ham in what should be the final match of Lewis-Skelly's ban.

Given the injury problems in the squad, it is far from an ideal situation. Just here, Mikel Merino and captain Martin Odegaard were side-lined due to fitness and illness issues respectively. Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu are also out.