Match date: 13 September 2014

After an international break, both sides find themselves with less points than they would have expected as Arsenal drew against Leicester in their last match, while Manchester City loss to Stoke CIty 1-0 in the last match week.

Arsene Wenger set his side out in a 4-1-4-1 shape with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil on the outsides and Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey in front of Flamini. Danny Welbeck made his Arsenal debut as the lone striker.

Manuel Pellegrini gave Frank Lampard his Manchester City debut, while James Milner and Jesus Navas also got unusual starts as Pellegrini looked forward to CIty’s midweek match with Bayern Munich.

Arsenal’s Shape, Özil Conundrum Continues

Wenger continued with a 4-1-4-1, as he has for each game this season. Flamini was entrusted with playing the sole holding midfielder role, in an attempt to allow Wilshere and Ramsey more freedom. It worked relatively well for Arsenal as well, the midfield stayed compact defensively and Manchester City struggled to play for much of the game, especially in the first half.

Danny Welbeck did well as the striker. He was able to hold the ball up fairly well and ran the channels. His combination play in and around the box was not up to the the link up play of Olivier Giroud, but he was able to create chances for himself. Alexis Sanchez played on the right for most of the match and looked much better than he had when playing a centre forward role against Everton.

Özil, however, continued to look out of sync with his teammates and match. Wenger played him on the left side of the midfield in a 4-1-4-1, which is odd considering Özil’s lack of work rate on the defensive side of the ball as well as his inability to see and play into both sides of the field as he would be able to in a central role. From Wenger, it seems like a forced effort to get another playmaker into his side and Özil’s contribution did not justify the inclusion. Much of Arsenal’s best play going forward went through Ramsey, WIlshere, and Sanchez.

Özil’s best playing came when he switched with Sanchez a few times during the match and played on the right, which is where he has arguably played his best for Arsenal during his year at the club. Last year when Arsenal were looking for a vertical option other than Giroud, Özil’s high positioning on the right gave them another outlet and he succeed and played some of his best football. On the left, however, he looked relatively anonymous. Notice below that Özil got involved much more in the play on the right side of the midfield, where he was able to come inside more naturally.

Even when Özil was able to get on the ball on the left, he was usually in a 1v1 situation against Zabaleta, with Monreal, who was pinned back by Jesus Navas for much of the match, offering little support. While on the right, Debuchy was much more inclined to work his way up the field.

Midfield Battle

One of the most interesting parts of the match was midfield three from each side. As mentioned above, Arsenal played with Flamini, Ramsey, and Wilshere as their three centre midfielders, while Pellegrini selected Lampard, Fernandinho, and David Silva, with the latter less attached to the midfield than the others. The triangles matched up, however, with Ramsey and Wilshere in the same zone as Lampard and Fernandinho and Flamini protecting the space that Silva looked to thrive in.

The two standout players in the midfield were Fernandinho and Wilshere, both who played very different roles in their team, but both who excelled in those roles. Fernandinho played as one of two holding midfielders for Manchester City, alongside Frank Lampard. With the former Chelsea midfielder beside him, Fernandinho’s role was simply to break up Arsenal attacks and play simple passes, allowing Lampard the freedom to control Manchester City’s play from a deeper role. The Brasilian midfielder did well given that he had to disrupt the play of both Ramsey and Wilshere, two very dynamic midfielders, given that Lampard is not very mobile or defensive minded. He got into a good amount of tackles and broke up play relatively well, but Wilshere managed to get the better of him at times.

As mentioned above, Wilshere was able to get the better of Fernandinho, with a lot of this having to do with the Manchester City midfielder having to deal with both Wilshere and Ramsey for many parts of the match, most commonly on Arsenal’s breaks forward, which Wilshere particularly excelled in. The young Englishman hasn’t quite hit the heights many have expected, but in this match, he was excellent. His best bits of play were when he was able to dribble at the Manchester City midfield and defenders, breaking the lines with his dribble and runs. His goal was a perfect example of Wilshere’s day. Arsenal won the ball back through good pressing, Wilshere picked it up, played a good pass to Sanchez, who played the ball into Ramsey’s feet, who played in Wilshere. Wilshere then beat Clichy on the dribble and chipped the ball over Hart. He also set Sanchez up for his goal and played a great ball over the top to Aaron Ramsey, who missed his effort.

Arsenal’s Pressing v Manchester City’s Physicality

One of the most impressive parts of Arsenal’s play was their pressing, particularly in the first half, but they showed good signs of it in the second half as well, which led to their equaliser. The intent to get numbers around the ball quickly in the attacking third was evident, even if it was not always successful. Below is an example of this. Lampard is being pressured, but Fernandinho is left with space to receive and turn into. Arsenal were able to launch their own counter from this Manchester City attack from good closing down further down the field.

Majority of the time, however, Arsenal were successful in their pressing and incredibly successful in their attempted tackles in the attacking third of the field. They made it hard for Manchester City to build up well out of the back and were able to create their own chances from pressing. The first half, particularly between the 10th minute and half time, with Aguero’s goal coming against the run of play, showed Arsenal could be dominant through good play and pressing.

While Arsenal pressed well, won the ball back quickly, and broke quickly, Manchester City resorted to slowing down the pace of the game and breaking up Arsenal’s attacks with very physical play. It was relatively effective as many attacks were broken up with just chippy little fouls around the halfway line and just outside of shooting distance on Joe Hart’s goal.

It was an effective way to go about the match and slowed down numerous attacks for Arsenal, but also made the game less attractive to watch because of the disruption of play.

Conclusion

A draw is rather fair. Arsenal were the better of the two sides in the first half, but Manchester City were able to take the lead through Aguero against the run of play. The second half was less dominant from one particular side, but it is fair to say that Arsenal’s equaliser also came against the run of play.

The biggest question for Arsenal going forward is whether to continue to keep Özil in the starting XI after another unproductive appearance. In a 4-1-4-1, there isn’t really a spot for him to thrive in. He needs to be playing behind a striker, with two holding midfielders behind him or high on the right side where he can come in on his left foot and see the field.

Both sides have tough Champions League games midweek, with Arsenal playing Dortmund and Manchester City playing Bayern Munich.