Arsenal: 4 things we’d like to see against Brighton

3. Attacking Balance With Five Clear Lanes of Attack

Fans can see how it is that Arteta wants his team to build and where the attacking threat comes from, and while the five lanes of attack he looks to adopt have been noticeable for much of his recent tenure, they had never been clearer than against Spurs.

Kieran Tierney was not the only avenue forward. Even with Xhaka in the team, the pass into the Scot’s feet to take his full-back on and whip a cross in was not the be-all and end-all for Arsenal.

Aubameyang kept centrally, Smith Rowe covered the interior and Saka was wider for longer spells. With Martin Odegaard adding the central figure in between the lines and Tierney stretching the pitch laterally on the overlap, if there was ever a fixture to see a clear painting of what Arteta wants it was that one.

It’s very much his starting lineup and his plan.

In having that structure – a word unfamiliar to the other lot in north London – there was far less predictability in the way the team moved and which angles were sought en route to goal. Boasting exceptional progressors of the ball in Partey and Xhaka the options opened up and Nuno Espirito Santo’s side couldn’t cope.

Brighton like to maintain a compact shape in every phase and breaking that down will only be achieved by making absolute use of the pitch.

Continued…