Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal: 4 negatives and positives

Positive #1 – Takehiro Tomiyasu Looks Strong at Centre-Back

Holding’s red card prompted a change of shape from Arsenal, who moved Tomiyasu into central defence alongside Gabriel and ended up playing a malleable back four with Xhaka at left-back.

Given Holding will miss the Newcastle match and Gabriel looks certain to miss the rest of the season, suddenly there is a gigantic defensive crisis facing Arsenal.

Fortunately, Tomiyasu knows a thing or two about playing centre-back.

Moving into the position during the game, he rarely put a foot wrong. Operating there for large spells of his career, the Japanese’s extreme comfort across the whole defence is now more valuable than ever as he will have to come into central defence against the Magpies.

If White is fit then it will be on the left of the two, which is also no concern given how ambipedal he is and that he operates in that position for his national team. Some people question how important positional versatility is in players – they really shouldn’t.

Spurs did sit off as the game wore on, relieving Tomiyasu of too much pressure, but he filled in well and will need to repeat the feat on Monday.

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