Arsenal stun Tottenham to win derby: 3 things we learned
Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-0 in the north London derby on Saturday, Nov. 1. Here are three takeaways from the Gunners’ big win.
Arsene Wenger earned his first Premier League win against Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs on Saturday thanks to first-half goals by Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez. The win sees Arsenal move into fifth place and pull within a point of their north London rivals. Here are three takeaways from the match.
Arsenal’s back three were superb
Arsene Wenger’s decision to switch to a back three last season raised plenty of eyebrows. The Frenchman could point to his side’s strong finish to the Premier League campaign and FA Cup final victory against Chelsea as justification for the change, but it’s still unclear whether the formation gets the best out of many of Arsenal’s players.
Regardless, the formation did the trick again against Tottenham, who also play a back three. In particular, the three center-backs — Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal — were impressive. The trio combined for 25 blocks, 12 interceptions and four tackles, denying Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen any foothold in the game.
Koscielny was probably the most impressive of three, and never seems to get the credit he deserves, but Monreal’s transformation from bad full-back to excellent full-back to excellent wide center-back has been remarkable and the fact Arsenal were on the brink of selling Mustafi over the summer has never been more confusing than it was on Saturday.
As always with Arsenal, the question is whether they can perform like this on a regular basis. History suggests they can’t, but they should take heart from this performance all the same. If they back three play like this every week, they can reclaim their spot in the top four.
How much do Tottenham miss Alderweireld?
Tottenham have been the best defensive team in the Premier League the past two seasons thanks in large part to the Belgian duo of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. Davinson Sanchez, bought from Ajax in the summer, has slotted seamlessly between the two to form the best back three in the league.
It was a big blow for Mauricio Pochettino, then, to see Alderweireld limp off injured during his side’s 3-1 win against Real Madrid on Nov. 1. In two games since then, Spurs have beaten Crystal Palace 1-0 and lost to Arsenal, and Pochettino revealed last week the Belgian will be out for six weeks.
Perhaps it’s too much of a knee-jerk reaction to suggest Alderweireld’s absence was the difference against Arsenal. After all, Sanchez and Vertonghen have both been superb this season, and Eric Dier regularly and effectively slots into the back three. That’s not even to mention the first goal against the Gunners was offside.
Still, Dier is a worse center-back than Alderweireld. He’s less effective covering space in behind his partners and he’s less effective distributing the ball. Arsenal exploited both those areas of Dier’s game. It’s too soon to upgrade this from minor inconvenience to major problem, but Dier’s performances will go a long way to determining his side’s success in the coming weeks.
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Arsenal’s big three show up
Arsene Wenger has been weirdly reluctant to play his three big-name attackers so far this season, but Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette all made his starting XI against Tottenham. They were excellent.
Sanchez was Arsenal’s most dangerous attacker, drifting in off the left wing to play at times like a second striker, Lacazette was predictably sharp around the penalty area, and Ozil’s quality and intelligence in the final third remains almost unrivaled in the Premier League.
The most impressive part of the performance, however, was the work they got through off the ball. Arsenal’s pressing game is usually somewhat hit-or-miss, with Sanchez regularly leading a press that simply doesn’t follow.
But against Spurs, Lacazette and Ozil joined him, forcing Tottenham into some poor decisions at the back and allowing Arsenal to control much of the first half. When they dropped off to protect their lead in the second, the big three showed their quality on the break.
Whatever Wenger’s misgivings about starting his best three players together in attack, this performance should have helped change his mind. He has three of the best attackers in the league at his disposal; it turns out using them is a good idea.