Arsenal Vs Brighton: Width the underrated, understated key

Arsenal host Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday and must win to keep pace with those at the top of the Premier League. For the Gunners, width is the underrated, understated key.

After Spurs and Manchester United won on Saturday — I am writing this during Manchester City’s trip to Stamford Bridge –, Arsenal again find themselves nine points off the top of the table and in desperate need of a win to keep with the blistering pace being set by their rivals.

They welcome newly-promoted Brighton and Hove Albion to the Emirates for the Sunday lunchtime kick-off, a game that they are expected to win. If they are, as they profess themselves, wanting to challenge for the title this season, then they must consistently dispatch with teams like Brighton and win these games.

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The key to this fixture will be the Gunners’ ability to break down their opponents. Chris Hughton is a smart and pragmatic manager; he will discipline his side, such that they sit deep, compact the space in their own defensive third, defending stoutly in and around the penalty area, and allow Arsene Wenger’s side to dominate the ball.

In breaking down a team when space is limited and time is short, width is key. Players, even the most creative players, need space to work in, and the way to create that space is to make the pitch as big as possible. Because the opposition defensive line is so deep, that space cannot be created by making runs in behind. Instead, it must come through width, and in the 3-4-3 system that Arsenal have been implementing, that responsibility falls on the wing-backs.

Both Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac are extremely adept at providing a threat in wide areas when pushing forward. Bellerin has great pace, making those devastating overlapping runs, getting in behind the opposition defence, while Kolasinac plays with a lethal blend of pace and power, bulldozing his way past and through challenges, bounding his way down the left flank.

With Kolasinac and Bellerin pushing forward, that allows Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez to drift throughout the pitch, making them that much harder to keep tabs on, finding those pockets of space in between the lines to receive the ball into feet on the half-turn.

It is getting these players into those positions with the time to turn and drive at the defence that creates the angles and the opportunities to open up a tightly-packed defence. And that is extremely difficult to do without having the width to stretch the pitch as wide and as big as possible.

Next: Arsenal Vs Brighton: 5 key players to watch

Both Bellerin and Kolasinac will be vital on Sunday. Wide players are always are when it comes to beating sides like Brighton, and if Arsenal are able to overcome their visitors, expect either or both to be at the heart of it.