Crystal Palace vs Arsenal: 3 tactical areas to exploit

Arsenal are back in action on Monday as they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League, with nothing other than three points on the mind.

It’s a credit to Mikel Arteta, the coaching staff and the players that they’ve got themselves to within ten games of the top four after the start they’ve had. On their journey to this point they’ve become *whisper it quietly* a good football team.

Watching the development of the side tactically as well as off the pitch, while there are big games awaiting them in the final run-in it should be opposition sides who hold the most fear.

Patrick Vieira won’t stand for that, though. He has completely transformed Palace’s playing style in such a short period of time with a huge overhaul of the squad, and deserves immense credit for it.

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal: 3 tactical areas to exploit vs Patrick Vieira’s side for Monday’s Premier League clash at Selhurst Park

From a red and white perspective it’s wonderful to see. Tipped by many to go down under the Frenchman’s tutelage, they’re comfortably in mid-table and have lost only nine games, a tally bettered by just five other teams in the division despite them sitting in 12th.

They’re a tough nut to crack, and an exciting one to watch.

As for most teams sitting in fourth Arsenal will head into this one as favourites, although they will have to be on the top of their game to secure three more vital points if they are to edge closer to the magical ‘70 point mark‘ that historically tends to be enough for Champions League football.

In order to secure the win, there are some tactical areas to try and exploit.

Crystal Palace Can be a Clumsy Side

Looking back at the reverse meeting at the Emirates, clumsy might not be the term most would associate with this team. In the long line of farcical VAR calls against Arsenal this season, James McArthur got away with GBH on Bukayo Saka when he chopped him from behind at full force.

A ‘stonewall’ red card, as they say.

In general, however, Palace aren’t the best tackling side. Their average of 10.6 fouls committed per game is the fifth highest in the league this season, with Conor Gallagher out in from with 1.9 committed per 90 minutes. In fact, three of their main central midfielders are in the top four most fouly(?) in the team.

So, how to take advantage of this?

The best approach is to maintain speed of play. Arsenal are at their best when they ball is being zipped around at pace, enticing the opposition to pounce for an interception and leave spaces in behind. Martin Odegaard’s weight of pass and Thomas Partey’s beautifully disguised balls can force such actions, while generally having highly technical players can too.

Saka gets hacked to pieces every game, drawing countless dirty fouls, and these one-on-one situations in wide areas are of most use to Arsenal for more than one reason…

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Crystal Palace Have a Poor Set Piece Record

Yay! It’s always pleasant to hear that an opposition side aren’t at their strongest in set pieces, as that is precisely the area Arsenal have improved substantially this season.

While getting Saka and Martinelli isolated with their full-backs is what Arsenal want in any case, should they fail to beat their man there is every chance they could at least draw a foul.

The Gunners’ fine tally of 11 set piece goals scored is fewer than the number that Palace have conceded. Vieira has worked wonders in a few departments for the Eagles, yet set pieces he still hasn’t mastered with his side conceding 13 already this season. At the other end, they’ve only scored four.

All three of their most recent conceded set piece goals have come from corners, and all three have been near post headers, or headers somewhere within that vicinity.

Their shape on corners usually deploys three or four players on the line of the six yard box, with other players picking up individual runners. All it requires is some clever movement and the static standing defenders will get beat in the air be a deep runner. It obviously isn’t that simple, yet for a team strong on scoring from set pieces they will know that getting big Gabriel or Thomas Partey in that area, with a man blocking Vicente Guaita, is a welcome avenue to score from.

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Maintaining Pressure in Final 15 Minutes

Unknowingly to many teams there can be subconscious spells in the game where focus slips. Perhaps tiredness kicks in or tactically they are instructed to change their ways, or there is something lacking mentally at specific moments.

It’s tough to come up with a valid reason as to why this is, but Palace concede a lot of their goals in the final 15 minutes of both halves. 55% of the 38 goals the Eagles have shipped this season have come during those 30 minutes of the game. That’s more than half of their total allowed in in one third of the match.

Breaking it down, Palace have conceded ten between 36-45 minutes, and 11 between 76-90 minutes.

There are notable examples, such a Lacazette’s last-gasp equaliser at the Emirates, Neal Maupay’s leveller in added time at home, or John McGinn’s 86th minute goal at Selhurst Park.

Do the players generally lose focus? Are the tactical demands on the team too much to persist with for over half an hour? Who knows, but it’s clearly a weakness of theirs and when the clock is ticking down for a whistle there is every reason to push harder down on the pedal.

They’ve scored a fair few of their own during those times too, which may hint that they allow games to get too open, but it means that patience could be a key tool on Monday.