Arsenal Vs Cardiff City: Hector Bellerin back to what he’s best at

This season, Hector Bellerin has proven his offensive prowess and defensive shortcomings. When Arsenal travel to Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon, he can get back to what he’s best at.

After facing Manchester City and Chelsea in the first two games of the season, Arsenal had to play in a different style of match. Football changes greatly depending on the approach, the standard and the tactics of the opposition. Nothing will outline that fact more than considering the first two games of Unai Emery’s era in north London to the two immediately proceeding them.

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On Sunday afternoon, in Emery’s fourth match as the new head coach, the Gunners travel to Cardiff City, the newly promoted side doing a remarkable job to even earn promotion, nevermind now looking to avoid relegation.

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They are still waiting to score their first goal of the season, which perhaps reveals everything about their usual approach, and they will likely drop into an extremely deep low block, hoping to soak up the pressure of their visitors and threaten on the counter-attack. They will cede possession and allow Arsenal to play high up the pitch and control the game. There may not be a player that style of match suits more than Hector Bellerin.

There have been two painfully distinct sides to Bellerin this season. Blisteringly quick going forward, delivering accurate, well-timed, intelligent cut-backs, the Spaniard has, at the other end, looked extremely vulnerable, exposed by Manchester City and Raheem Sterling consistently, caught out of position for two of the three Chelsea goals, and roundly dominated by the superior physicality and athleticism of Michail Antonio a week later.

But against Cardiff, it is not inconceivable that Arsenal will have up to 80% possession. The defence will almost exclusively sit on the halfway line, pressing high up the pitch and dictating play from deep, and the full backs, including Bellerin, will be afforded the freedom to push into extremely advanced positions of the pitch.

Bellerin has one assist on the year and has created three chances in total, one of which, for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Chelsea, was a clear-cut opportunity that should have been finished. His overlapping runs have been dangerous, frequently driving to the by-line and putting crosses into the box, and his link-up play with Henrikh Mkhitaryan has posed problems for opposing defences.

The vulnerabilities in Bellerin’s game have come at the other end of the pitch, an end in which he is unlikely to spend much time in on Sunday. That is not to say that he can simply ignore his defensive duties, but, on this occasion, it is his offensive production that will be more influential to the result.

Bellerin, then, can get back to his best. In a match unlike those that have previously exposed him, this is the type of game that should allow him to flourish. If he doesn’t? Well, serious questions must then be asked.