The Arsenal defence was in the headlines once again after the Gunners secured a 1-0 win over Liverpool in a Premier League match on Sunday, November 1, to remain at the top of the table. The Arsenal defence performed creditably at Anfield to secure a rare win at Liverpool’s home ground.
They now have six clean sheets in nine league matches, and the Arsenal defence continues to be the meanest in the Premier League, having conceded only five goals so far this season. However, the main question that teams in the league are looking to answer is whether this defence can be breached.
How Can The Arsenal Defence Be Breached?
1. Opposition Teams Adopting A 3-2-5 Formation
They will not have to start with that formation, but merely adopt it whenever they are pursuing a goal against the Gunners. If the opposition team is playing with a 4-2-3-1, as is mostly the case these days, they can switch to a 3-2-5 with one of the full-backs staying deep and the other pushing forward to join the wingers, the centre-forward and the number 10 to form an attacking line.
The strength of the Arsenal defence is their ability to cover the width of their penalty box along a straight line, crowding the central area of the box. Playing with a five-man attacking line will allow a team to stretch the Arsenal defence wide and thereby disperse the crowd in the central area of the box.
That will also enable them to find space to shoot and thereby score goals. Just to borrow an example, Manchester City played with a formation that was effectively a 2-2-6 with both the full-backs joining the attack in an attempt to break the low block of the opposition teams a few seasons back.
However, for this to happen, the two midfielders of the team will have to be able to keep the ball between them for some time, thereby allowing the full-back to surge forward and join the attacking line. Both Rodri and Bernardo Silva were quite adept at that, which allowed Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol to move up the pitch.
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2. Playing With Quicker Build-Ups
Once the attacking line is formed and there are enough people in the final third, the build-ups need to be quick, so that the Arsenal defence gets very little time to reorganise itself. Unless that happens, it will be difficult to catch them off-guard. There could be some line-breaking passes from the midfielders to reach the wingers, who can then try to move through the channels and reach the byline, thereby engaging the Arsenal full-backs.
If the teams adopt a slow approach while creating the moves, it will be easy for the Arsenal defence to regroup and protect their goal. Brighton & Hove Albion exhibited the quality of a high press and subsequent quick build-up in their 3-0 win over Arsenal in September. Another way to surprise the Arsenal defence is to press hard high up the pitch and then utilise the ball as soon as possible once the turnover is completed.
Extra Time Notes
Mikel Arteta made his team defend well last season as well, racing to the Premier League title, conceding only 27 goals in 38 matches. The fact that they scored only 71 goals in the league campaign did not stop them from winning the title. They are doing it again this season, and most teams are failing to score goals against them. It remains to be seen whether the opposition teams can change their strategy in the upcoming matches and start scoring regularly against them.
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