FA Cup 2019/20: Arsenal v Chelsea – tactical analysis

Frank Lampard had it all to figure out, although being a goal up after five minutes, the former Chelsea skipper turned manager looked in command to collect his first trophy in his debut season as Blues boss. Only then to lose his captain César Azpilicueta and talisman Christian Pulišić to hamstring injuries inside the opening hour, along with his midfield maestro Mateo Kovačić seeing red at 73 minutes. The young English manager was unable to engineer his sides equaliser from the bench with ten men for the remaining 25 minutes they trailed in the game.

Arsenal held on to their 2-1 lead for the closing 25 plus minutes to claim the oldest prize in world football, winning the FA Cup for a club and national record 14^th time. Post-match, the happy and humble Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was quick to pay tribute to the character of his sides performance. There was also a special tip of the hat to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for his tutelage and shared experience that helped shape the young Spanish manager.

The tactical analysis looks at the essential tactics and talking points that characterised this all-London final. The analysis will offer a comprehensive look into how both these sides set up to get success while neutralising their opponents threat.

Lineups

Both sides set up in a 3-4-3, and with similar tactics in and out of possession, where individual matchups were critical in determining which side would control the game. Both sides opted for a back-three to give them numerical superiority building through the thirds.
Arsenal kept their shape for the full 90 minutes while later in the second half Chelsea switched to a 4-4-1 to compensate for being a man down while remaining competitive.

Arsenal: 3-4-3
The tried and trusted Emiliano Martínez started as the last line of defence for the Gunners, just in front Rob Holding, David Luiz, and young Scottish international Keiran Tierney made up the back-three.

Héctor Bellerín and Ainsley Maitland-Niles operated both right and left flanks respectively as wing-backs. At the same time, Dani Ceballos and Granit Zhaka controlled the tempo of Arsenals play from the middle.

The front three of A