Arsenal stifled Chelsea as confidently as possible. It didn't even feel like a matchup of equal top teams.
Arsenal defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (1:0). The score does not reflect the degree of superiority of Mikel Arteta's team. A more complete picture is given by the ratio of moments: 14:5 for shots, 10:4 for shots from the box, 2.1 vs. 0.3 for xG. The victory could have been more convincing. Most impressive is the degree of Arsenal's control. Chelsea generally mostbet-az-90.com did not respond to the goal, although they had half an hour. For the entire match, the Graham Potter team did not offer any working ideas, even for going on the attack. This reflects both the crisis state of Chelsea and the power of Arsenal. Let's try to find out what was more yesterday. Potter continues to sort out schemes and combinations. In Brighton, interesting personalized (and often effective) game plans were born from this. There are fewer days to prepare in Chelsea, but Graham perseveres in such conditions, though more like a bust of ideas than subtle adaptations.
This time the Englishman opted for 4-2 -3-1. The flanks of the defense seemed especially critical within the scheme. On the right, Rhys James is greatly lacking (Cesar Azpilicueta was entrusted to restrain Gabriel Martinelli), and on the left, after Ben Chilwell's injury, Mark Cucurella came out.
Alexander Zinchenko returned to Arsenal Arteta got the opportunity to release the most basic version of the squad. This is what the optimal combination of this season looks like when everyone is healthy.
Arsenal's pressure completely turned off the central axis of Chelsea
The most important element of Arsenal's superiority was high pressing. Guests set two records at once. Firstly, we organized 16 high ball passes (at a distance of 40 meters and closer from other people's goals). Secondly, four situations with such transitions were brought to a blow.
Inside this plan, the players had interesting special tasks. The four Martinelli, Jesus, Odegaard and Xhaka started the pressure with personal orientations covering two central defenders and two defensive midfielders. Saka and Zinchenko were the next to enter the pressure: they waited, watched where the attack would follow and closed the desired zone (Saka, if the right flank; Zinchenko is the left).
This is clearly seen in the examples from the air of BT Sport from the tactical camera . Pressing starts from the personal four, while all Arsenal players are located with an emphasis on the center (not wider than the penalty area):
The attack went to the left flank Zinchenko moves forward to put pressure on Azpilicueta (the partners move with him):< /p>
If the ataa went to the right flank, then Saka would move to Cucurella (the team would move along with him). At the same time, both Zinchenko and Saka in the initial stage of pressure were narrowly ready to help their partners if the Chelsea attack went through the center. They can be called trailing players. If the attack goes to the flank, they close the pressure there by advancing. If the attack goes through the center, they help to close due to density (bonus players without direct opponents).
