UEFA Europa League 2019/20: Eintracht Frankfurt vs Arsenal – tactical analysis

On Thursday night Eintracht Frankfurt welcomed Arsenal to the Waldstadion in the Europa League. Last season’s finalists Arsenal came into the game under pressure from their fanbase following their disappointing 2-2 draw with Watford on the preceding weekend. Frankfurt, semi-finalists in last seasons competition, also experienced a disappointing weekend beforehand. They were dealt their second loss of the season at the hands of Augsburg. Adi Hütters men were looking to bounce back with a win in front of their home fans. This tactical analysis will look at the tactics used by Unai Emery and Hütter as their sides were pitted against one another.

Lineups

Frankfurt fielded a 3-4-1-2, with Danny da Costa and Filip Kostić given the roles of playing as attacking wing-backs. David Abraham, Martin Hinteregger, and Makato Hasebe formed their back three, whilst Daichi Kamada sat behind their front two of André Silva and Bas Dost. Arsenal used a 4-2-3-1, with academy players Joe Willock, Emile Smith-Rowe, and Bukayo Saka playing as an attacking trio behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Calum Chambers also came in for his second start of the season, following his loan spell at Fulham in the 2018/19 season.

How Arsenals deep shape frustrated Frankfurt in attack

Arsenal were compact throughout the game as Frankfurt enjoyed the majority of possession with 56% of the ball. Emery was content to let Frankfurt build attacks and use the pace of his front four to break quickly once they had retrieved possession. This was particularly the case in the second half when Arsenal sought to defend the one-goal lead they had earned with Willocks 38th-minute strike. In the second half, Frankfurt had 61% of possession despite having only ten men for the last 11 minutes.