Newcastle United tactics
Newcastle defended well at Manchester United last time out, but Steve McClaren wanted more than just proper defending in this encounter. The Magpies boss expected his side to retain the ball better for the home fans.
Arsenal were always going to enjoy more possession, so the priority was to contain the visitors in a solid shape. Aleksandar Mitrovic led the defending in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with the attacking midfielders beginning serious pressing in the middle-third.
Jack Colback and Georginio Wijnaldum were the central attacking midfielders, detailed to engage Arsenal’s central midfielders to deny them the space to easily build attacks, while Moussa Sissoko and Florian Thauvin tracked back with Arsenal’s full-backs. Vurnon Anita was the defensive midfielder and policed the area between the lines in order to protect the central defenders.
When in possession, Newcastle had the option to quickly break forward, with Mitrovic offering a target with his aerial presence. Wijnaldum, Thauvin and Sissoko broke forward from midfield to support the centre forward in those counter-attacks.
When the Magpies had the space to safely play out from the back, Anita dropped between the central defenders to collect the ball, while full-backs Massadio Haidara and Daryl Janmaat pushed cautiously into the middle-third to add width.
Colback and Wijnaldum supported play through the middle, while Sissoko made diagonal runs inside from the right flank to support Mitrovic. Thauvin added natural width on the left flank to provide crosses to Mitrovic and the attacking midfielders.
Arsenal tactics
Arsenal went into this game with a poor attempts-to-goal conversion rate of just five per cent, so Arsene Wenger dropped Olivier Giroud in the hope of improving his side’s finishing. Mesut Ozil also missed out with a knee injury, so Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott were drafted into the starting XI.
The Gunners retained their usual 4-2-3-1 formation but they had a greater threat during quick changeovers with Walcott using his pace to peel off Chancel Mbemba and get in behind Fabricio Coloccini, while Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain quickly broke forward to support those transitional plays.
When the Gunners had good possession, they employed their usual patient offensive play, with Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin collecting the ball from the defenders to initiate those attacks. Cazorla then pushed on to dictate play while Coquelin remained as the holding midfielder.
In forward positions, Sanchez worked from the left flank, where he provided an option for the ball out wide before cutting inside using his dribbling abilities. Oxlade-Chamberlain linked up with Hector Bellerin down the right to provide service to the other forwards.
When Arsenal had the ball in the final-third during those patient attacks, Walcott dragged Newcastle’s central defenders out of position with runs to the right edge of the box. Ramsey made forward runs from midfield to exploit the space that opened up.
When the Gunners were out of possession, Walcott led the defending. Ramsey worked just behind the centre forward. Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain pressed from the sides of midfield, while Cazorla dropped to join Coquelin in working in front of defenders.
Key tactical changes
The key moment was obviously Mitrovic’s sending off in the 16th minute as it forced the Magpies to recalculate their game-plan. McClaren’s men started defending deeper in a 4-4-1 formation, while operating without a target man up top.
Thauvin led the pressing in front of two banks of four. The back-four aligned their defensive line across the width of the 18-yard box to shut the channels and force Arsenal wide, while the midfielders formed the second line just in front of the defenders to deny Arsenal space to take shots or pick dangerous passes inside the 30-yard zone.
Ironically, Newcastle defended better with 10 men as they restricted Arsenal to just a single chance in the last 30 minutes of the first-half.
No team has completed more passes this season than Arsenal did in this game (779), but the Gunners had to wait for Coloccini’s own goal in the second-half to break the deadlock.
In the last quarter-of-an-hour, McClaren tried to push for an equaliser by asking his side to start pressing higher in the middle-third. Papiss Cisse came on to provide a target, while Wijnaldum and Ayoze Perez tried to support the centre forward by breaking forward from midfield.
Siem De Jong backed those attacks from central midfield, leaving Colback as the holding midfielder.
Arsenal were happy to settle for a narrow victory, with Mikel Arteta replacing Oxlade Chamberlain to improve ball retention. Cazorla pushed on to the number 10 position, allowing Arteta and Coquelin to double-pivot in front of the back-four.
Newcastle’s attempts to stage a late rally failed because Arsenal retained the ball well, which in turn allowed the Gunners to lower the tempo of the game and ensure a smooth ending to the encounter.
