Premier League 2021/22: How Arsenal heaped more misery on Manchester United to boost top-four chances – tactical analysis

Arsenal hosted Manchester United at the Emirates in what was a crucial game in the battle for fourth place. The home side started the day with a three-point cushion over their rivals and a game in hand as well.

After three defeats on the spin against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton, Arsenal bounced back in great style beating Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge in midweek. As for United, a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool meant that they have sunk to an all-time low and confidence was shot. With new boss Erik Ten Hag announced during the week, current interim manager Ralf Rangnick did not hold back during his pre-match press conference. The good thing  one of the few  is its crystal clear. You dont even need glasses to see the problems. Now its only about how you can solve them. Not minor cosmetic things. This is an open-heart operation.”

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo returning to the starting lineup and United showing an improved performance compared to the Liverpool one, they fell to a 3-1 defeat as Arsenal’s energy, hunger and dynamism proved too much on the day. The result puts Arsenal back in the driving seat to secure fourth spot and all but ends United’s chances of taking part in next year’s UEFA Champions League.

This tactical analysis will break down some of the key tactics we saw in Saturday’s lunchtime kickoff.

Lineups

Mikel Arteta made one change to the side that beat Chelsea last Wednesday night. Cedric Soares came in for Rob Holding.

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale; Cedric Soares, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Nuno Tavares; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Emile Smith Rowe; Eddie Nketiah.

Ralf Rangnick made wholesale changes after the midweek humiliation at Anfield. Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford made way for Raphaël Varane, Alex Telles, Scott McTominay, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United XI (4-2-3-1): David De Gea; Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Raphaël Varane, Alex Telles; Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay; Anthony Elanga, Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes; Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pressing structures

Arsenal

Arsenal mainly pressed in a 4-4-2 shape in order to cover United’s double pivot in Matic and McTominay and force the centre-backs to have a lateral build-up. When the ball was played from Lindelof to Varane, Ødegaard had to jump out fast and join Nketiah in closing down the two United centre-backs to prevent them time on the ball and block them from playing vertical passes into feet.

From a United goal kick, we can