Match 8: Arsenal 3 - 1 Tottenham

Setting the scene

If there is one fixture every Arsenal fan craps themselves about every season, it's the North London Derby. For the first time since the 2007/08 season Arsenal faced Tottenham at home whilst being top of the league. Prior to the match, Arsenal had 18 points from 7 matches with one loss away against Man Utd just under a month before and Tottenham had 17 points from 7 matches and remained unbeaten. In what seems to be one of the best Arsenal atmosphere's in recent memory, the team and the supporters had all the reason to be hopeful ahead of this all important clash against fierce rivals for not just the three points, but the bragging rights that come along with it until the return fixture on January 17th. With only Cedric, Elneny and Smith Rowe injured, Arsenal were able to field an ideal 11 man line-up whereas Spurs were missing Kulusevski and Davies, two key players as well as Moura. This is how both teams lined up:

Arsenal set up in the typical way, with a 4-2-3-1 which transitioned into a 2-3-5 when in possession with Ben White and Zinchenko alongside Partey in midfield and Ødegaard and Xhaka playing higher in the front line:

With this Arsenal first eleven having had more time to gel since last playing altogether against Bournemouth back in August, this was a match that should be the template for how Arsenal play under Mikel Arteta this season. Using the fullbacks in combination with wide forwards and midfielders to rotate positioning out wide and form numerical advantages all over the pitch is now more ingrained into the squad than ever and the way in which the patch panned out would confirm this.

How it played out

Arsenal started the game off strong with Martinelli hitting the post from a tight angle before either team had really settled tactically. This set the tone for what would be a fantastic and nervous match of football. Tottenham's game plan revolves largely around counter attacking movement from wide players to feed in Son or Kane to create issues for the opposition. By keeping pressure on Spurs throughout the game, and closing down from the front, Arsenal were able to, largely, keep them contained and shut out counterattacks before hey developed into something more dangerous. Arsenal's dominance in this sense is demonstrated by the high number of pressures in the final third with the home team having 34 pressures in the final third compared to 22 from Tottenham. Across the rest of the game Arsenal dominated in almost every way, they had nearly twice as much time on the ball and over double the amount of completed passes. On individual bases, Harry Kane was shut down brilliantly by William Saliba, denying him the opportunity to shoot as much as he'd like, only allowing him to 2 (non-penalty) shots, 1.3 below his average per 90 minutes and a non-penalty xG of 0.1 well below his average npxG per 90 of 0.51.

Antonio Conte looked to exploit the space created by Arsenal's high and narrow fullback's in order to launch quick counterattacks and try to catch the Arsenal defence disorganised and off-guard. Fortunately, with the way Arsenal set up, Thomas Partey, Gabriel or Saliba were frequently in a good position to cover for an out of position player and were able to slow the approach on goal to allow White or Zinchenko to get back into position. The foul from Gabriel to give away a penalty resulted from a run of play whereby Tottenham broke with Son from around his defensive third. With Saka dispossessed and Ben White very far forward, Son was able to break at pace and played a quick one-two to get around Partey who couldn't stop Son with his challenge. As the South Korean bared down on the Arsenal back line Gabriel tracked him and Saliba sprinted back to cover the space and stop Son from exploiting the space and forcing him to play a heavy ball out wide to Richarlison. The spell of play ended when Richarlison used his quick feet to draw a poor challenge from Gabriel to earn a penalty which was subsequently put away by Kane.

Arsenal on the other hand looked to dominate Spurs in the wide positions and draw central players out of possession to allow central players more space around the edge of the area to shoot or play a dangerous pass. Arsenal used this tactic as well as using Xhaka or Ødegaard making runs into the box to create more space around the area. This was the case for the goal from Thomas Partey, a sweet strike from range, created by Ben White's simple pass from a wide position. In total, Arsenal had 11 shots from outside the box, their highest in a match so far this season. To further emphasise their tendency to shoot from distance, we can work out that prior to this match, Arsenal took, on average, 40% of their shots from outside the area, with 43.75% being the highest proportion before this match. Against Spurs however, Arsenal took 50% of their shots from outside the area, acknowledging the difficulty in bypassing the cramped Spurs penalty area.

Jesus' match winner came from a result of his persistent desire to score and shoddy defending but it was Xhaka's goal in the 67th minute which demonstrated the quality and style of Arsenal's play. Following a red card for Emerson in the 62nd minute, Arsenal were able to pile on the pressure and maintain numerical advantages in all areas of the pitch. With Partey on the ball, Martinelli drifted wide drawing Romero into a wide position and creating a large gap in defence. Martinelli is able to sprint into this space and receive the ball from Partey whilst Romero tried to keep up with his lateral run, leaving a huge amount of space behind team which Xhaka is able to drive into when Martinelli lays the ball off to him. Eric Dier fails to pick up on Xhaka's run and barely has a chance to react before Xhaka fires it into the bottom right corner. This of course is common now for Arsenal, using Xhaka in this more advanced role allows Arsenal to overwhelm the opposition defence and create space with runs into space and positional interchange.

Goal & Big Chance Analysis

20th Minute: Arsenal 1 - 0 Tottenham (Partey Goal)

Snapshot 1:

As Saliba plays the ball out wide to Saka, the Spurs defence is very lopsided with Perišić marking Saka out wide on the right (off image), the Arsenal front line are able to scatter around and occupy spaces that will give Partey a lot of room.

Snapshot 2:

Saka receives the ball out wide and the Spurs back line is stretched. Son tracks back in order to create a 2 vs1 against Saka. Meanwhile Ødegaard begins a run to draw Højbjerg out of the midfield and creating a lot of space around the penalty area. Ben White hangs back to provide a passing option.

Snapshot 3:

Perišić and Son close down on Saka, but he is able to play a simple pass to Ben White who waits in lots of space. Højbjerg has followed Ødegaard into the penalty area.

Snapshot 4:

Ben White plays a neatly weighted pass to Thomas Partey who is waiting in a load of space on the edge of the area. Spurs have decided to try create a numerical advantage in their area which allows Partey to operate in deeper spaces.

Snapshot 5:

Spurs are too slow to close down the space around Partey and he has plenty of time to find the top corner from range, opening the scoring.

67th Minute: Arsenal 3 - 1 Tottenham (Xhaka Goal)

Snapshot 1:

Partey drives deeper into the Spurs half as Xhaka looks to lose Son by drifting into thee middle. A man down, the Tottenham back 3 area at a numerical disadvantage as Romero tracks Martinelli out wide and Lenglet tracks Jesus. Eric Dier does not track anyone.

Snapshot 2:

As Partey progresses, the Tottenham back line is stretched and Martinelli turns to drive into the space he has created between Romero and Dier. Lenglet continues to track Jesus while Xhaka moves into space ahead of unaware Eric Dier.

Snapshot 3:

Partey plays a ball into the path of Martinelli as he bursts towards the space inside. Eric Dier's ball watching has allowed Xhaka a lot of space.

Snapshot 4:

As Martinelli drives inside, he beats Romero who continues to track him while Xhaka begins a run and Dier is faced with Martinelli's run ahead of him and Xhaka's behind.

Snapshot 5:

Xhaka calls for the layoff from Martinelli, noticing the space now created by Romero following the Brazilian. Xhaka receives the ball and drives into the space.

Snapshot 6:

Xhaka makes his way into the penalty area where he is able to drive the ball low into the bottom right corner past Lloris.

Prominent Arsenal Performances

MotM- Thomas Partey:

Thomas Partey once again proved how important he is to this Arsenal team. He is one of the players around which our game revolves and he provides a pivotal role in midfield linking not only the defence to the attack but the left to the right too. Defensively, he made a big impact in the match, making a combined 5 tackles and interceptions, the most out of all Arsenal players and he was equally as important in transitional play, having the most progressive passes and carries on the pitch demonstrating the industrious link he provides, frequently to players in wide positions in this match. On top of his general performance, he was also able to score a fantastic first time strike that found the top corner from 25 yards.

Key Performance- William Saliba:

Although there is not much to rave about in terms of his stats this game, what captured the eye was his defensive awareness and positioning. He played like a veteran Premier League defender and was able to nullify Harry Kane in open play. In occasions where Son would charge at the Arsenal defence, Saliba was able to force him outside and stop him from being able to cut inside on his right where he can be so deadly. Saliba was able to shut out the two most dangerous Spurs players.

Disappointing Performance- Martin Ødegaard:

In somewhat of a recurring theme, there was no bad Arsenal player on the pitch and instead the underwhelming show from Ødegaard was as a result of the tactical setup. Arsenal exploited the weaknesses of the Spurs wide positions and allowed Jesus to drift wide right in order to support Saka, White and Ødegaard. In doing so, he gave more options as a pass and reduced the frequency of using Ødegaard as an option. The Norwegian played an important role in the system this game and was unable to do anything standout.

Area to improve

1. Vulnerability from quick 'switches' to an advanced wide position: Albeit for a short spell of the match, when Perišić, Emerson or Son would drift wide or high before a quick break, the forward positions of White and Zinchenko would allow a lot of room for a wide counterattack from Spurs. This in turn would Gabriel out of position and leave Saliba covering the space. Although Saliba was able to disrupt many Spurs attacks, Arsenal looked vulnerable from wide positions fairly often especially with the pace of Son.