Four draws and only one win from seven games. That’s what Mikel Arteta gave to Arsenal in the league after he was appointed as the club’s manager last December. Their last win in the Premier League was dated back to the first day of 2020; when they beat Manchester United at their home.
The visitors, Newcastle, are not running well either. The Toon Army only won one game from their last seven league games. Such mediocre performances from both teams made some fans underestimated the value of this game. However, the game proved the opposite. A dramatic tale of two halves was served at the Emirates Stadium; which resulted in four second-half goals for the home side. Without further ado, this tactical analysis will tell you how the match unfolded.
Lineups
Mikel Arteta lined his team up in 4–2–3–1. Bernd Leno started between the sticks with Héctor Bellerín, Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz, and Bukayo Saka in front of him. Arsenal’s backline was supported by the double pivots of Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. Up top, Eddie Nketiah was picked to spearhead the attacking line. Behind him, there’s a trio of Nicolas Pépé, Mesut Özil, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The dugout was filled with names like Lucas Torreira, Alexandre Lacazette, and Joe Willock.
Oppositely, Steve Bruce set his men rather defensively in a 5–4–1. In the goal, regular-choice Martin Dúbravka started the match. In front of him, Federico Fernández, Jamaal Lascelles, and Ciaran Clark formed a back-three; flanked by loanees Valentino Lazaro and Danny Rose. Newcastle’s engine room was filled with names like Sean Longstaff and Nabil Bentaleb. They were supported by Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin in the wide areas. Upfront, Joelinton was chosen as the visitors’ target man. Players like Fabian Schär, Matt Ritchie, and Isaac Hayden had to start the game from the bench.
Predictable defensive strategy from Newcastle
In this part of the analysis, we’re going to look at the tactics used by Newcastle defensively. Before going there, let’s see the stats. The statistics show that Newcastle averaged 39.2% of ball possession in every Premier League game so far. This number is the league’s lowest; even more than three per cent lower than Burnley, who have the second-lowest tally as yet.
As predicted, the visitors used a deep-block 5–4–1 when they didn’t have the ball. In the 5–4–1, Newcastle were very compact both vertically and horizontally. It means they wouldn’t allow any room in between the lines; as well as protecting the wide areas with their wing-backs.
If Arsenal were able to bring the ball to their flank players, Newcastle’s nearest wing-back would immediately close him. Not only that, but the wing-back would also be supported by his side’s winger to do the defensive job. By doing so, this approach forced Arsenal into ineffective U-shaped passing patterns for many times in the game.
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