Watford vs Arsenal: 3 tactical areas to exploit for Arteta

Arsenal still have a string of tough fixtures to get through in their remaining 14 Premier League matches of the season, meaning no slip ups can be accepted against sides battling for relegation.

Making the short journey to Watford on Sunday, a team they share a training ground with, Mikel Arteta will be pitted against Roy Hodgson for the fifth time in his career, having won one and drawn three times against the veteran’s previous side Crystal Palace.

Having secured maximum points from their three fixtures in February, the Hornets present another excellent opportunity for the Gunners to maintain their winning run in the series of matches that Arteta dubbed ‘cup finals’.

On to their third manager this season already, Watford had bid farewell to Xisco and Claudio Ranieri before appointing Hodgson six matches ago, during which time he’s collected five points and seen his side score just two goals.

Watford vs Arsenal: 3 tactical areas to exploit for Mikel Arteta’s team in Sunday’s Premier League clash at Vicarage Road

The 74-year-old is known for getting his team well organised at the back and building effective counter-attacking units, but his work in Hertfordshire is still in its infancy and the quality of his squad has its clear limitations.

Boasting the second worst defence in the league, and the leakiest of all the teams on home soil, this is a match Arsenal head into as undoubted favourites to win.

On the 15 occasions that these sides have met in the Premier League Watford have failed to keep a single clean sheet. The odds of them putting an end to that run are slim, although any side fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table poses a risk.

Just because Arsenal boast more quality across the pitch does not determine success. Looking at this Watford side under Hodgson, there are a few tactical deficiencies to take advantage of and boost the chances of securing all three points.

1. Exploiting Watford’s Unrefined Press

Hodgson sides don’t press the ball high up the pitch. His style is often defined by a compact defensive shape, one set up to pounce quickly in transition and feed the forwards with direct vertical and diagonal passing.

Usually lining up in a 4-4-2, a system he has used in some of the matches during his short tenure, he’s since reverted to a 4-3-3 shape with Imran Louza as the long No. 6 and Moussa Sissoko and Tom Cleverley as No. 8’s either side.

Under the guidance of Ranieri it was painfully easy to play through the Hornets. Their deep pressing was uncoordinated, lopsided and opened up spaces centrally for one or two simple passes to penetrate.

There have been improvements of late, but it’s still not refined.

What Arsenal can do to exploit this is to have a spare man in the midfield. Watford will seek to cut passing lanes and mark their opponents centrally, so having Alexandre Lacazette drop deeper – as he does – will either match up the Hornets when Thomas Partey is in possession, or create a one man overload with one of the No. 8’s aiming to put some pressure on the Ghanaian.

Either they leave him unchallenged to dictate the play and progress the ball, or they get someone closing in on him which leaves Xhaka, Odegaard and Lacazette outnumbering them in that area.

With still some work to do on solidifying their central structure, attacking them where it hurts will be where joy can be had.

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2. Quick Switches of Play to Open Space

One of the interesting alterations that Hodgson has made since coming in is compressing the pitch and keeping his team incredibly compact.

The way Watford defend as a unit sees them tighten their gaps to one another and shuffle over side to side, aiming to prevent the team in possession progressing the ball down the flank the ball is on.

They’ve been coached to follow the ball to the side of the pitch it’s on in tandem with one another, and then bust a gut to get over the other side when it moves. The aim of this is that if they do win the ball they can spring into attack with a raking ball forward into the opposing space, a ploy that also invites teams to switch the play themselves and make use of pacey wide players.

Watford’s front three don’t track back to defend deep all the time. They do drop into a 4-5-1 when the opposition are keeping them pinned back, but when they don’t it’s a huge invitation for someone like Partey to switch the play quickly across the pitch and give Bukayo Saka the chance to make direct runs to goal.

This approach requires absolute focus at all times, and as seen with Watford throughout this season they lack both that and the requisite defensive quality to cope with wide attacks.

Using this to Arsenal’s advantage by sucking them and, likely for Sunday, feeding Cedric down the right presents a fine way to hurt the hosts.

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3. Close Down Wide Areas To Close Down Watford

The bottom line is that Watford are a poor side. Whoever sits in the dugout can only do so much with what he has at his disposal.

Their scattergun approach to transfers sees them bring in players from all over the continent, often cherry picking from the Pozzo family’s other club, Udinese, to create a squad that is unsettled and unbalanced.

But despite that, they do have quality in attack.

Two players in particular stand out: Ismaila Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis. The Senegal and Nigerian internationals respectively are the undoubted threats in the team, both boasting blistering pace on the counter-attack and capable of beating their men down the flanks.

That is where the threat is, and Watford know it, so Sarr being ruled out with injury comes as a huge bonus. No other side in the Premier League this season attacks as little down the central third than the Hornets. Only 22% of their attacks are aimed through that zone, primarily down to the lack of creative quality in their midfield.

Dennis tends to line up at centre-forward but does a lot of his best work starting out in wide areas, while Sarr’s likely replacement, Josh King, is a pace merchant who Arsenal will still need to keep an eye on.

The aforementioned 4-3-3 shape needs to be forced into a 4-5-1 shape to pin the wingers back, and as soon as (if) the first goal goes in for Arsenal, the gaps it will open up in wide areas should be easy to pick off.

If Arsenal keep Watford’s wide areas closed down, they will keep Watford closed down.