Arsenal vs Liverpool: 3 tactical solutions to midfield crisis

Arsenal are one game away from being at Wembley. Amid the relentless stream of baffling backlash faced after the North London Derby was postponed it feels as if that has been slightly forgotten.

All the noise and transfer talk has drowned out that this team could be lifting silverware in as little as 180 minutes. Battling to a 0-0 draw in the first leg at Anfield despite playing with ten men for over 70 minutes, the Gunners are well placed to book another showdown with Chelsea at the national stadium.

It looks as if the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg is to go ahead. While Arsenal were unable to meet the threshold of senior players for Spurs game, Mark Mann-Bryans reports that there is some positive news on the injury front.

There have been no new Covid cases and those dealing with short-term injuries are also said to returning.

Arsenal vs Liverpool: 3 tactical solutions to midfield crisis with Sambi Lokonga the only senior option for Carabao Cup semi-final

While there is no word on who those may be, Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers and Cedric were all doubts after the Liverpool match, with Cedric going off injured after ten minutes, and they could be among those involved.

Elsewhere there was no spot in the squad for either of Emile Smith Rowe or Takehiro Tomiyasu, and if they are passed fit they’ll be a huge boost to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal’s hopes of beating Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Martin Odegaard is also due to be back from his own Covid absence, but as is the case for all of those potentially returning, none are central midfielders.

Losing Granit Xhaka for the next two matches leaves Arsenal with only Sambi Lokonga as a senior option. Thus, trying to find him a partner in the heart of midfield has everyone scrambling across the squad for solutions. There are options, although anyone coming in will be a makeshift change. That much is for certain.

3-4-3 with Martin Odegaard in Midfield

There is tactical flexibility with the 3-4-3 shape, primarily centering around the possibility of having one of the three central defenders push up further than the rest to add compactness in central areas and create a diamond shape.

Having previously showed flexibility with his systems, Arteta has since stuck with variations only centering around a back four. Tomiyasu is known for being part of the in-possession build up shape but even he has been found to be more expansive than his earlier outings at Arsenal and is less confined to a specific area of the pitch.

Going with a 3-4-3, it might look more similar to the shape adopted in the horror Premier League defeat away at Manchester City earlier in the season. Before it all came tumbling down early doors, Arteta allowed one of the midfielders – in this case Odegaard – to be more aggressive in the press.

One of the reasons it all went horribly wrong on the day was that the spaces around the other midfielder – in this case Xhaka – were so easily exposed. Few lone No. 6’s can contend with ruthless interchanging and aggressive pressing, let alone the immobile Xhaka.

Were Arteta to go down this route again then the spaces between Sambi and the three central defenders has to be tight and one of the three has to be constantly coming off his defensive line to put pressure on Liverpool’s central areas, as well as the right centre-back working in tandem with the right wing-back to ensure gaps are plugged in midfield.

Having stuck with a back four for so long, it feels like a risk.

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4-2-3-1 With Benjamin White in Midfield

There is reason to believe Arteta will be woe to break away from his usual 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 system, which if so means that an unfamiliar face will join Sambi in the double pivot.

Who might that be? Well, the options are as such:

• Benjamin White
• Calum Chambers
• Martin Odegaard
• Emile Smith Rowe
• Charlie Patino
• Miguel Azeez

We can near enough discount the bottom three from the equation: Miguel Azeez has just returned from his loan and is set to move elsewhere, Charlie Patino is not ready for a fixture of his magnitude, and Emile Smith Rowe has not played there for Arsenal previously.

Considering that Chambers is arguably at the bottom of the pecking order for both centre-back and right-back (rightly or wrongly) it would be a surprise to see him thrust into midfield pretty much out of the blue.

If both Odegaard and Smith Rowe are back then the Norwegian could move into a deeper role. The issue is that he isn’t quick enough to deal with the transitions, and in general the defensive side of his game is lacking. He doesn’t have the physicality.

Does that leave White? It sort of does. But even with the centre-back moving into a position he’s played in before, it then pulls him out of his partnership with Gabriel. Those two were key in the 0-0 draw at Anfield, and with White further forward his deep distribution is no longer an asset with the Reds’ intense swarming set to heavily reduce his time on the ball.

It still looks like the best option so far, though.

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4-3-3 With Duel No. 8’s

Known for quite some time to be Arteta’s preferred formation, earlier in the season supporters got a little giddy at the thought of it coming into fruition when it was dabbled with against Norwich, and then used from the off against Burnley.

Having its moments since, the recent run of wins prior to the Man City defeat saw it used at certain points of build up, with Xhaka as a left-sided No. 8 with Partey deepest of the trio.

Neither of those two are available for this one and, across the whole season, this team has looked more structurally sound with the double pivot. For what Arsenal have it serves them best.

What Arsenal don’t have, however, is two central midfielders.

Going with a 4-3-3 would match up with the Reds’ shape and keep numerical equality in midfield, with the two options Arsenal could select next to Sambi being Smith Rowe and Odegaard. Both have played in the position before this term, albeit with Partey, it it helps Arsenal add more creativity into central areas.

They are also two players who are distinctly more comfortable when not shackled with deeper defensive duties, and the worry is that they could be dominated physically. Roberto Firmino will drop off in between the lines and defensive awareness has to be at an absolute premium to handle the interchanging, as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold drifting into the half-spaces.

As much as the solution to having one central midfielder could be solved by just….playing one central midfielder, it asks a lot of two players coming back from both injury and Covid. The aforementioned Patino can’t be thrust into the role either.

Verdict: 3-4-3, 4-2-3-1, or 4-3-3. It’s a tough choice with the personnel at hand. But, without wanting to steer too far away from the norm, White in midfield seems like the best choice.