Arsenal vs Leicester: 3 tactical areas to exploit

Leicester, who sit 12th in the Premier League, head into Sunday’s game against Arsenal off the back of a four match winning run. Prior to that they’d won just one of seven in all competitions.

With a bit of a spring in their step, the saving grace for Arsenal is a welcome one: they’re in even finer form.

In fact, Mikel Arteta’s side are the form team across all of Europe’s top five divisions over the past ten league matches, a run which culminated in the 3-2 victory over Watford last time out. That result leaves the Gunners in fourth spot, which they may well keep hold of even after Manchester United host Tottenham.

Only five of the Gunners’ remaining 13 games come against sides currently residing in the bottom half of the table, thus they can ill-afford any slip-ups when hosting such opposition at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal vs Leicester: 3 tactical areas to exploit against Brendan Rodgers’ side for Sunday’s Premier League clash

A home record bettered only by Manchester City and Liverpool this season, Arsenal have already accumulated more points on their patch than they did in the entirety of 2020/21, despite having played six fewer matches.

This is a game where nothing other than winning will suffice, especially with the aforementioned Reds playing on the same ground just three days later.

A 2-0 win over the Foxes earlier in the season was one of the Gunners’ better performances up until that point. Scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes all but settled it. Now, however, they’re a far more complete unit and the performances of late should make everyone of an Arsenal affiliation confident of another three points.

Planning will be necessary, though, and looking at the tactical side of the game there are three standout weaknesses for Arteta and co to exploit as they seek to maintain their light grip on the top four.

1. Youri Tielemans’ Lack of Mobility

Ever since Arsenal got linked with Youri Tielemans when it became known that the club had met with his agent over the Christmas period, his form plummeted.

An Arsenal curse or a clever way to lower his price tag?

Of course, anyone operating in a team that in general is underperforming is going to struggle. But what this period highlighted was a lack of mobility in his play: running back to goal can be a struggle and the spaces behind him in transition are there to be exploited. He’s still brilliant, mind you.

Lining up most recently in a 4-3-3 system, much like Arsenal, Tielemans sits on the right of the midfield trio in a No. 8 role – which begs some questions of his suitability to Arsenal given they need someone on the opposite side, but that’s another discussion – where he can be caught higher up the pitch in no-man’s land.

Teams have exploited these areas in behind where Wilfred Ndidi has a lot of ground to cover, and with the use of Alexandre Lacazette dropping off to overload the midfield, it invites someone like Gabriel Martinelli to make incisive diagonal runs towards goal.

Central speed can be devastating to this Foxes side.

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2. Leicester Have an Appalling Record at Set Pieces

The most obvious weakness in this Leicester team is their leaky defence, which has conceded a staggering 13 goals from set pieces this season. Only Leeds United have conceded more.

Brendan Rodgers has flipped and flopped through set piece tactics all season. Varying from a zonal marking system to a man-marking system and somewhere in the middle, the Foxes appear to have now settled on a clearer structure of man marking and chiefly attacking the ball.

It’s still not great.

Any system has flaws and Leicester’s inability to track deep runners on corners is killing them. Setting up zonally, all it takes is one late run into the six-yard area and the opposition have the jump on them. There is no leadership in those situations.

All of which will be music to Nicolas Jover’s ears, whose methods saw Arsenal net from a corner in the reverse meeting back in October.

The Gunners haven’t been quite as efficient of late, however, scoring just one set piece goal in their previous nine Premier League outings, but they still possess a tally of nine overall and will be eyeing Sunday’s match as a chance to boost those numbers once more.

Corner routines alter depending on who the opposition is, with some teams weaker in the second phase and therefore short corners are the preferred avenue, yet in the Foxes’ case they’re poor in all aspects and getting the ball into the box first time is the method to adopt.

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3. Kasper Schmeichel is Having a Poor Season

One of the most trusted goalkeepers in the division, Kasper Schmeichel’s form this season has been remarkably poor considering the high regard he was once held in.

His PSxG (post-shot expected goals) is -1.8, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Heavily criticised by his own supporters this season, Schmeichel has shown a total unwillingness to come off his line and claim crosses – think Bernd Leno but only worse. Even when he does he’s looked dreadfully uncertain, failing to command his box and in the process and unsettling his backline.

However, Arsenal aren’t the most efficient crossing team in the league, simply because they have nobody to aim for. His weakness at wide deliveries is more suited to corners. Instead, where Arsenal should be targeting is his underwhelming distribution.

Regularly lambasted by his supporters, the target of the Gunners’ pressing should be balanced on all the defenders with the aim of forcing the ball back to the keeper.

Arsenal may appear to be a high pressing team, but on all the metrics they aren’t. It doesn’t class as ‘aggressive’ and they let the opposition pass the ball around more than most before any progressive passes are made.

The aim of the Gunners’ press is to move the ball into the areas they want. It’s about cutting passing lanes and forcing long kicks. Against Leicester, the aim of those long balls has to be for Schmeichel. He is a weakness.