On Sunday afternoon, after much clamour from supporters, Unai Emery fielded his all-star front three of Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang together for the first time in the north London derby against Tottenham.



On paper it didn’t go badly: Lacazette scored the first, and Aubameyang scored Arsenal’s equaliser, albeit after Lacazette had departed through injury. But Arsenal didn’t look comfortable in that system, desperately lacking a creative player operating between the lines.



Previously this season, Emery started with a 4-2-3-1 with Reiss Nelson on the left, then used a diamond for the trip to Liverpool. But this was time to unleash the French-born front trio, the three most expensive players in Arsenal’s history.



Emery remains a fundamentally cautious manager, however, and therefore to accommodate three direct, speedy attackers together, he fielded three players in disciplined midfield roles.