Arsenal Vs Tottenham Hotspur

Match Analysis

Formation and Lineups:

Arsenal:

Leno (Gk)

Mustafi (Lb), Sokratis (Cb), Holding (Rb)

Bellerin(Lm),Torreira(Cm),Xhaka(Cm),Kolasinac(Rm)

Mkhitaryan (Lw), Aubameyang (St), Iwobi (Rw).

They lined up in 3-4-3 formation which shifted to 4-4-2 late in the second half.

Tottenham Hotspur:

 Loris (Gk)

 Aurier (Lb), Foyth (Cb), Vertonghen (CB), Davies (Rb)

 Sissoko (Cm), Dier (Cdm), Eriksen(Cm)

 Ali (Cam)

 Kane (St), Son (St)

 

Spurs were lined up in a diamond 4-4-2 formation, but they also shifted back to three in the second half.

First Half:

The start from Arsenal was really good and they were on top for the first 20-25 minutes of the game.

Under Wenger, the Arsenal biggest issue was their dis-organized pressing as Sanchez was often the only man running and pushing to press without any support from his team.

However,under Unai Emery, Arsenal has become really good, especially at their ‘counter-pressing’.

As soon Arsenal loses possession, they counter-press in numbers and try to win back possession as high as possible.

Arsenal has been often able to win the ball back in dangerous positions through their quick and well organized counter-pressing.

Arsenal, mainly tried to attack from the left side of Spurs defense in the first half.

Kolasinac stayed very wide on the left flank while Iwobi often drifted inside,to force Aurrier narrow.

Arsenal were pressing as a unit so defense was also getting up and As I mention in my previous blogs, whenever a team is pressing as a unit’s defense always left spaces behind them, So if the opponents can move the ball quickly than they can hit you using those spaces behind the line.

Despite a good early start,

Arsenal were down 1-2 at half time.

Second Half:

Unai Emery made two crucial changes at half time and introduced Ramsey and Lacazette and bringing off Iwobi and Mkhitaryan.

Spurs Cb are often wide apart and they leave a big gap open in the middle.

Aubameyang was pulling Foyth away and Lacazette was pulling Vertonghen away and a big gap is created right at the heart of the defense.

Ramsey recognizes that space and kept running in there and signals his teammates to play the ball in that space where he was running.

 

Pochettino recognized this gap and to cover this gap Spurs shifted the formation to a back three.

Dier did cover that space between the Cb’s but since Dier is not a natural Cb, so his positioning and movement was not always on point.

Conclusion:

Both substitutes of Arsenal had a big impact on the game and changed the game totally.

All three changes that Emery made, had a big impact on the game, including Guendouzi, He also played some very good forward passes to create chances for Arsenal.

Spurs were leading the game at half time but credit to Emery’s half time substitutions that totally changed the game.

Overall a great game of football to watch for neutrals.

Thanks for reading guys and what do you guys think about this new Arsenal,comment below!