FA Cup 2018/19: Blackpool vs Arsenal

Arsenal eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup by comfortably dispatching Blackpool at Bloomfield Road. A brace from youngster Joe Willock and a strike from Alex Iwobi helped Unai Emerys Arsenal take a 3-0 victory. Arsenal left plenty of first-team regulars at home and traveled with a mix of youth and a few players from the senior team.

While Blackpool put up a spirited performance, they were outclassed on the occasion. Arsenal were dominant throughout the game, enjoying 58% of the possession. The scoreline flattered the visitors to a certain extent with Blackpool wasting a couple of opportunities that they should have taken. In the end, the home sides poor defensive organisation allowed Arsenal to leave with a win and a clean sheet.

Youngsters impress for Arsenal

Arsenals Hale End graduates were particularly impressive in the win. Joe Willock started as part of the midfield trio and grabbed a brace. The English midfielder looked comfortable playing in an advanced midfield role. As his WhoScored rating of 9.14 reflected, the Englishman was Arsenals best player. With clinical precision, his two shots on target brought him two goals. Add his 48 touches of the ball and an 80% pass completion, it was a great all-round performance from the midfielder.

As his heat-map indicates, Willock covered a lot of ground over the 90 minutes. He operated as a number eight as opposed to the regista or deep-lying role he has occupied in the past. For his first goal, the midfielder was on hand to head the ball into an empty net after Aaron Ramseys free kick came off the post.

His second was thanks to his anticipation. Carl Jenkinson fizzed in a cross which was flicked on by Eddie Nketiah and tapped-in by Willock at the far post. Both the goals indicate that the youngster has been training to position himself between the lines, make intelligent runs into the box and score more goals.