Arsenal: 4 major positives from 4-1 Leeds win

For the first time since 2016, Arsenal will sit in the top four positions in the table on Christmas Day after beating Leeds 4-1 at Elland Road on Saturday.

You can only beat what is in front of you, and you can still only win even when the rest of the division isn’t playing. Arsenal might be fourth but the constant postponement of matches has handed them a welcome opening to climb the table.

And they’ve actually taken it.

Kicking off like a house on fire, Arsenal hit a mode unlike any previously seen under Mikel Arteta with the Leeds goal being pummeled in record breaking fashion. Hitting the target 11 times set a new Premier League record for the first half of a match, with Illan Meslier being beaten on three occasions.

Arsenal: 4 major positives from 4-1 win over Leeds in the Premier League as Arteta’s side consolidate top four position at Elland Road

The first was a well-taken effort from Gabriel Martinelli after some tenacious work from Alexandre Lacazette won the ball back in the box. Meslier couldn’t prevent it from being swept home.

His dinked effort over the onrushing Frenchman after being played through by Granit Xhaka was the pick of the bunch, with Bukayo Saka hammering home the Gunners’ advantage with a deflected effort shortly before the break.

Leeds made tweaks to their pressing style after the break and were awarded the chance to reduce the deficit from the penalty spot when Benjamin White felled Joel Gelhardt. Raphinha made no mistake.

However, Emile Smith Rowe had the final say on the night when the super-sub fired past Meslier after a gorgeous chipped pass from Martin Odegaard. It was a brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable night, with so much to be giddy about.

1. The Movement of the Fantastic Four

Do the players understand space? Do they know where to move when they need to? Can the absorb information and act upon it accordingly?

This four certainly can. Get the wide camera angle out and watch how Lacazette, Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard shift across that pitch. That is worth the price of admission alone.

In a blistering opening 45 minutes, where Leeds actually had the first real sight of goal, the vibrancy of the front four was beyond what the hosts could handle. Odegaard was picking up positions in Leeds’ back pockets and leaving his imprint on every aspect of the game, with the attacking trio wreaking havoc elsewhere.

Saka had been positioned high and very wide to focus on Stuart Dallas, with the same said of Martinelli on Cody Drameh. The aim was to get the full-backs isolated and let individual quality sing, with interchanging, particularly down the left, when Kieran Tierney joined the attack and Lacazette dropped off.

It was extremely intelligent football. These were players knowing their roles, but adapting to the shape of the opposition accordingly and attacking the spaces vacated at just the right times. It was chaotic cleverness, if such a thing exists.

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