Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1: tactical analysis

Arsenal put recent cup disappointments behind them to secure three points against Tottenham that were greeted with jubilation by the red half of North London. Winning a North London derby is always significant to these rivals, but for Arsenal it was vital to capitalise on Liverpool and Nottingham Forest’s draw the night before. Even more so, as they had to come from a goal down against Spurs to close the gap on first-place Liverpool to four points.

Tottenham – languishing 13th in the table – had taken the lead on 25 minutes against the run of play. From a corner, Son Heung-min was left unmarked on the edge of the box and promptly punished Arsenal with a deflected shot past David Raya. The visitors’ lead lasted only 15 minutes, though, as another deflection levelled matters – this time Dominic Solanke off a Gabriel header from a disputed corner. Minutes later Arsenal took a decisive lead, with Leandro Trossard stepping up to hit a tremendous strike for his first goal in 12 games. 

The home team could and should have added to their lead in the second half, while Pedro Porro struck a post for Spurs with seconds remaining. After breathing a sigh of relief, however, Arsenal and Mikel Arteta were able to savour a second derby win of the season alongside a boost to their title hopes. Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed the key tactical points from this meeting at the Emirates Stadium.

How the managers saw it

“We played from the minute one to hurt them, with or without the ball,” said Arteta. “We should have put the game to bed much earlier, but it is what it is. Then we had to suffer, we suffered in the manner that we are capable of doing, but I would like an extra goal.”

“[We were] not good enough, especially the first half,” said Ange Postecoglou. “Way too passive, allowed Arsenal to take control of the game. Really disappointed with the way we – both with and without the ball – allowed them to dictate the tempo and paid a price for it. The second half was a little bit better, but nowhere near good enough.”

Arsenal’s aggressive start

From their 4-3-3 shape, Arsenal started the match on the front foot, aggressively duelling and pressing Spurs. The Gunners’ defending on their right side helped lock the visitors into their own half, with numbers pressing around the ball and additional support coming across from the other side of the pitch (below). Their duelling in the middle third also gave them opportunities to counter on Spurs’ back line, and nullified most of the away side’s early attempted build-up play.

In their more organised defensive moments, Arsenal pressed via Kai Havertz locking play towards their right side. In doing so, he forced the ball towards Tottenham’s right-footed left-back Djed Spence as often as possible. Havertz also troubled goalkeeper Antonín Kinský by pressing him on multiple occasions, at which point Raheem Sterling was ready to jump Tottenham’s closest spare centre-back (below). Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice got tight on Tottenham’s double pivots, limiting their ability to bounce around Arsenal’s high-pressing front line. From there, Jurriën Timber jumped outwards towards Spence (below), forcing play on to his weaker foot. Arsenal’s only issue came when Spurs, through aggressive ball-carrying, found the central spaces that had been left vacant by Rice and Ødegaard’s jumping.

Arsenal’s need for directness

After going a goal down against the run of play, Arsenal continued to dominate the ball and territory. They also continued to duel and regain regularly, but struggled to maintain the speed, energy and directness of attack needed to penetrate the penalty area. As a result, they often allowed Spurs to recover back into a 4-5-1 block, and failed to make Kinský work. Arsenal’s wide triangle on either side of the pitch combined well and remained sharp, including some dangerous play with Ødegaard roaming, Timber inverting and Sterling’s wide runs around (below). But with little space available, they were finding it difficult to create significant opportunities.

Shortly after Arsenal equalised from a corner, however, Ødegaard demonstrated the speed and directness that had been missing from their play to find Trossard for the winner (below). Thomas Partey’s regain – again towards their right side – found Ødegaard, who quickly switched play to Trossard. With an underloaded attack, the Belgian drove directly into the box and took advantage of the space afforded him by arrowing his effort into the far corner. It was Arsenal’s first attempt on target and a crucial piece of clinical finishing that would prove the difference.

Postecoglou’s substitutions

Postecoglou made assertive attacking changes at the break, taking off his double pivots and bringing on winger Brennan Johnson and number 10 James Maddison. This gave his team much more attacking threat, with better combinations to play forward – especially via the widening Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski in midfield. Once into the final third, Tottenham’s right side combined well, with Porro joining the attack and Kulusevski looking for narrowed runs beyond, working well off Johnson. Son attacked by coming in from the left, and Maddison supported underneath from a slightly deeper position (below).

Similar to Arsenal, there were too many moments when Spurs got to the final third but lacked the aggression and directness to attack the goal. Instead, they allowed Arsenal to recover into a compact block and regain possession. This in turn exposed an issue with Postecoglou’s changes. When Maddison and Kulusevski looked to combine wide, they were unable to protect the middle when Spurs lost the ball high up the pitch, leaving Lucas Bergvall exposed. Porro narrowed to help cover – sometimes having already been central during build-up – but that in itself created gaps on Arsenal’s left for Trossard and sometimes Rice to exploit (below).

As such, the second half became very end to end, although neither side produced the quality needed to add further goals. While that made for a nervy finish for Arsenal, ultimately they were able to celebrate a morale-boosting victory.

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