Premier League 2018/19: Southampton vs Arsenal Tactical Preview

Arsenal are back in Premier League action tomorrow as they head to Southampton. As well as being Unai Emery’s first trip there, it’ll also be new Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first home game.

In recent years, St. Mary’s hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal. In the Premier League, they’ve only won once in their last five visits there. With a tough trip expected, in this tactical analysis, I’ll look at how Arsenal may shape up and how Southampton may play under their new manager.

Arsenal’s defence

Firstly, as much as Arsenal’s frontline has stolen the headlines, their defence is as important. In the club’s now 22-game unbeaten run, Emery has deployed both four-man and three-man defences.

Although the three at the back system hasn’t been used as often, it has looked more promising in creating fluid Arsenal attacks. This is because the wing backs are allowed to bomb forward, knowing that they are being covered.

However, with Rob Holding sidelined for up to six months and Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal only just coming back into the fold, they may not be risked tomorrow. However, with Monreal playing just 20 minutes in midweek, I think if he is used in a back three, we can have more joy against Southampton.

Here’s how effective, the use of wing-backs can be, as seen against Bournemouth a few weeks back.

The space that playing with three centre-backs creates offers great passages of play going forward. It gives defenders that extra man to think about both in midfield and attack which, as we saw above can cause chaos.

In the second image, in particular, we see Bournemouth try to crowd out the middle of the pitch. This is what creates all that space for Kolasinac to exploit which he did.