Aston Villa 2 Arsenal 1: tactical analysis

Aston Villa continued their fantastic form with this thrilling victory over league leaders Arsenal at Villa Park. Emi Buendía struck right at the death to give Unai Emery’s team a seventh consecutive win in all competitions, putting them just three points behind the Gunners. Matty Cash had sent the home team into the break 1-0 ahead, only for Arsenal to demonstrate their strength by equalising through substitute Leandro Trossard early in the second half. It looked like the points would be shared, only for Buendía to finish with composure amid a goalmouth scramble at the Holte End. Scroll down to see analysis from our UEFA-licensed coaches on how the game played out, tactically…

How the managers saw it

“When they drew level, we recovered our domination through our combination with the players, taking passes and getting into the box,” said Emery. “We were close to scoring but, of course, when you are going, maybe they can as well get some transition and score a goal. But we were pushing and we were really, really believing in our victory. And we pushed until the last minute, and we got it.”

“We had some difficulties in the first half, especially with some very unusual giveaways that we have given after regaining the ball, which is a really dangerous moment against them,” said Mikel Arteta. “The second half, we started really well, much more positive. We generated chances, scored the goal, and my feeling was that we were going to go on and win the game. We could have lost it before, again with two very dangerous individual giveaways, and we didn’t. We had two chances to score, the last one with the ball across to Declan [Rice] and we didn’t capitalise on that.”

Villa solving Arsenal’s press

Arsenal adapted their press, placing two in the first line as usual, but with centre-forward Mikel Merino moving to the left, starting wider to then press inwards. Left-winger Eberechi Eze dropped back defensively as a result.

Merino’s press helped to force the ball central, where Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice jumped on to Villa’s double pivot, while Zubimendi handled Villa’s number 10, Youri Tielemans. In support, Bukayo Saka aggressively jumped from the right wing, starting very high to also help funnel the ball centrally (below).

In response, Villa began to play over the press, with the back line – Emi Martínez especially – kicking longer. Morgan Rogers and John McGinn – initially set up as wide midfielders – moved inside to compete for these longer balls. Ollie Watkins also dropped to engage on the first contact, but was also on the shoulder, ready for any flick-ons (below). With Saka and Merino still high in Arsenal’s first line, the away side were happy to leave a 3v3 on their back line; Ben White stepped out of defence in support of Saka’s high press.

Advancing the full-backs

Both teams then began to advance their full-backs. Villa created spells of attacking play as they landed on second balls from the back line’s longer passes. Full-backs Cash and Ian Maatsen flew forward, creating the attacking width, with McGinn moving inside to support the double pivot in building through the centre. Tielemans found clever spaces between the lines, as did Rogers, who was very influential after coming in from the left, creating wide space for the advancing Maatsen (below). It was Cash who scored the opener, latching on to a cross to the far post.

Going the other way, Arsenal deployed significant attacking rotations in the first half, with full-backs Riccardo Calafiori and White often ending up as the highest attacking threat in central spaces, working directly up against Villa’s centre-backs. Merino dropped to support the midfield, giving Ødegaard and Rice licence to roam and drop, especially as Zubimendi looked to split the two centre-backs to build as a trio (below). Wingers Saka and Eze held the width, but it was the visitors’ right side that created most of the first-half problems for Villa, via Saka and White’s purposeful combinations.

Substitutes’ impact

Both coaches made influential substitutions in the second half, with Trossard and Viktor Gyökeres added at half-time for Arsenal, in place of Eze and Merino. The Gunners attacked with fewer rotations compared to the first period, but continued to combine well on their right side. Ødegaard moved over to further support this, as Saka and White created openings for teammates crashing the box from the left. Gyökeres made clever movements between Villa’s two centre-backs, with Calafiori still getting forward from left-back. This served to occupy Villa’s right-back and free Trossard at the far post (below). 

Arsenal deservedly equalised through Trossard, and consistently progressed on their right side well into the final third. As a result, Villa’s left-side midfielder Rogers had to recover all the way back, almost acting as a second full-back to stop Maatsen from being overloaded or isolated. This forced Villa into a temporary back five, with White providing regular runs around Saka, and Ødegaard also threatening Villa’s back line (below). From here, Arsenal’s midfield squeezed the pitch, ensuring they had left-side numbers ready to attack any crosses, cut-backs or switches from their right.

Emery responded by adding Donyell Malen (in the 66th minute, for Watkins) and Jadon Sancho (75th minute, for McGinn) to the front line, and moving Rogers out to the right. This gave Villa a much wider front line. Coupled with purposeful forward passing from their back line into the forwards, they ended the game as the stronger side, flipping the momentum. The hosts’ full-backs joined from deep, working crosses and chances late on. Tielemans, meanwhile, supported Malen in crashing the box, with the double pivot supporting underneath (below).

Emery made further attacking subs, bringing on Buendía for Cash in the 87th minute; the former played as another number 10 as the game reached its climax. It paid dividends when the Argentine scored the winner, putting Villa in the thick of the title race as it enters the Christmas period. For Arsenal, it was a setback compounded by Manchester City’s victory later in the day, which cut their lead at the top to two points.

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