Analysis: Arsenal

Arsenal were looking to make it seven Premier League wins in a row, as head coach Unai Emery changed from the 4-4-2 formation that demolished Fulham to a 4-2-3-1 structure. Stephan Lichtsteiner came in at left-back for the injured Nacho Monreal, with Mesut Ozil returning in place of Danny Welbeck.

The Gunners immediately sought to gain control of the ball, as they worked play back to goalkeeper Bernd Leno from the first moment of possession. They pushed both full-backs high, as the double pivot of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira filled the central spaces.

Despite creating passing options within their defensive third, they struggled to progress the ball through midfield. They rarely created within the opening 20 minutes, and Leicester looked the more dangerous side. It wasn’t until Ozil started to be found between the Leicester lines that they started to sustain spells of pressure. Alex Iwobi and Henrik Mkhitaryan were effective in creating further space for the full-backs to step into midfield while occupying the visitors’ central midfield pairing. Ozil could then move behind the midfield to become Arsenal’s main attacking link.

Having gone behind to Ben Chilwell’s deflected cross, the hosts regrouped well. Ozil’s clever positioning away from the congested central midfield enabled his side to quickly transition into attack after winning possession in their own half. The playmaker drove forward and continued his run into the box after releasing the overlapping Bellerin. The right-back delivered the ball into the path of Ozil, who opened his foot to exquisitely place his effort into the far corner.

Arsenal continued on the front foot as the second half settled, with Iwobi placing consistent pressure on the visitors’ back line through his direct running with the ball. Mkhitaryan’s inside movements continued, and he provided a second crossing target for Iwobi, alongside Alexandre Lacazette. Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans were forced to clear a number of crosses to safety.

With his side still searching for another opening, Emery introduced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi for Mkhitaryan and Lichtsteiner just after the 60-minute mark – and this change reaped immediate rewards. To that point, Lacazette had been reduced to one-touch link-up play in a three-against-one situation, but Aubameyang added an important second presence for Leicester’s central defence to deal with. Ozil continued to rotate around the congested central zone, but Arsenal now had enough bodies between the lines to penetrate in behind. An inch-perfect splitting through ball from Ozil again found Bellerin, whose first-time cross was tapped in at the far post by Aubameyang.

Aubameyang grabbed a second moments later, again at the far post, as the hosts cut through their opponents with a wonderfully flowing move forward. Xhaka’s role as an inward left-back essentially created a central three in possession, and with Bellerin’s overlapping runs forward, they now had a midfield unit of four in front of two central defenders. With Iwobi, Lacazette, Ozil and Aubameyang ahead of the ball, Arsenal had the pace and skill to penetrate a back five. The ball was switched across to Bellerin in the right wide area, who found Ozil on the edge of the box. A superb dummy from the German created a two-on-one situation with Lacazette, and Ozil unselfishly squared the ball for Aubameyang to add a third.

Out of possession, Arsenal were initially vulnerable to early passes forward behind their full-backs on the transition. As both Lichtsteiner and Bellerin pushed forward, Leicester’s strikers looked to make curved runs away from the centre-backs, thus exploiting the most space possible. Despite quick recoveries from the defence, the midfield couldn’t establish any form of counter-pressing due to their opponents’ quick forward play.

They similarly struggled to contain switches of play from the away side, with Iwobi and Mkhitaryan forced to recover all the way back – defensive commitments thus reduced the involvement of Arsenal’s wide players in the opening spell of the match. This in turn reduced their effectiveness when they were presented with an opportunity to counter.

Leicester’s entire outfield unit dropped deeper in the second half, and the distance became too great for the visitors to effectively counter-attack in the wide areas. James Maddison became the target for their forward passes rather than Jamie Vardy or Kelechi Iheanacho, making it easier for Arsenal’s central defence to win these balls forward and in turn maintain the attacking pressure.