Premier League 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Arsenal vs Brighton

The Arsenal vs Brighton match saw one team, Arsenal, with all the motivation. The previous day saw Tottenham lose to Bournemouth opening the door for Arsenal to pull within a point of the coveted Premier League fourth spot and Champion’s League qualification.

Meanwhile, Brighton secured safety from relegation with the Cardiff loss to Crystal Palace. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Brighton didn’t hit the beach early and gave a great account in a 1-1 draw courtesy of two penalty goals. The result nearly guarantees no Champion’s League for The Gunners. The dropped points put them three behind Tottenham with one match remaining and behind by eight on goal differential.

This tactical analysis will highlight two areas that were keys to the 1-1 draw. The first was Brighton’s defensive setup that forced Arsenal to play on the width. The second analysis item of note was Brighton’s intentional attack down the left side of the pitch. A clear targeting of Arsenal defender Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Lineups

Arsenal came out in a 4-3-1-2 formation. Bernd Leno in goal with Nacho Monreal, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the back four. The midfield was anchored by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Granit Xhaka, and Lucas Torreira. Mesut Özil played in the hole behind strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

Brighton countered with a 4-5-1 alignment. Mathew Ryan in goal with a backline of Bruno Saltor, Shane Duffy, Lewis Dunk, and Bernardo. The midfield was a block of five featuring Alireza Jahanbaksh, Pascal Groß, Dale Stephens, Yves Bissouma, and Solly March. Glenn Murray was the lone striker up top.

Brighton Defending

Brighton had clear intentions of clogging up the centre of the pitch and forcing Arsenal to attack through the width. A solid mid and low block was formed with Murray at the top encouraging Arsenal to go wide. The midfield block of five stayed narrow attempting to take away passes into attackers feet in the centre.

Here we see Brighton clogging the middle of the pitch and successfully cutting off passing lanes to the Arsenal attackers who are positioned between the lines.