Posted by The Team
Arsenal have played 10 Premier League games and used four different systems. Against Crystal Palace Unai Emery opted for the 4-4-2 for the first time.
After Granit Xhaka’s substitution, Arsenal tucked Bukayo Saka inside offensively, almost like a #10, and pushed Kolasinac up the field to occupy the left. Dani Ceballos moved to the middle alongside Matteo Guendouzi.
| First Half | ||||
| Time | Primary Player | Attack/Defense | Formation | Score |
| 0:20 | Lacazette | Transition | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Lacazette (-1) takes a heavy touch that allows Milivojevic to put a tackle in and nearly come away with the ball. Guendouzi (+0.5) has other plans and forces a heavy touch out of bounds. | ||||
| 1:12 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Pépé passes infield to Guendouzi (-1) who tries a first time ball over the top to Lacazette or Aubameyang (it’s not clear who). No matter, because it misses both of them. | ||||
| 1:29 | Tierney | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Luiz (+0.5) sprays it wide to Tierney (-1), but the ball catches him between bounces and by the time he chests it down it’s already out of play. | ||||
| 2:41 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Xhaka (-1) attempts the same pass as Luiz’s a minute before but misses badly behind Tierney, who can only get a head on it. | ||||
| 3:31 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Xhaka (-1) gets wrong-sided by Ayew on the long clearance by Hennessey, then Ceballos can’t catch up to Townsend. Townsend dribbles to the edge of the Arsenal box before crossing to McArthur, who outjumps Guendouzi (-0.5) to head on goal. Easy save for Leno. | ||||
| 4:06 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Pépé (-1) tries to go 1v2 in the Arsenal end and loses it. | ||||
| 5:09 | Tierney | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Tierney (+1) and Lacazette combine on the left, then open play to Pépé to get Arsenal out of their own third. Pépé lays back to Guendouzi (+0.5) who plays Chambers (-1) down the right; he has Pépé 1v1 with the CB if Chambers’ pass is within three yards of him. It’s not. | ||||
| 5:27 | Pépé | Defense | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Palace attempt to play their way out but Chambers (+0.5) forces Zaha back. He lays off to McArthur to clear, but Pépé (+1) is having none of that and harasses him into dribbling out for an Arsenal corner. | ||||
| 6:09 | Sokratis | Attack | 4-4-2 | 0-0 |
| Pépé’s (+0.5) first ball in disappoints, but not his second. Hennessey comes to punch but misses, and Xhaka (+1) heads the loose ball to Sokratis (+2). He lets it drop into his stride and fires in. 1-0. | ||||
| 7:29 | Pépé | Transition | 4-42 | 1-0 |
| Pépé (+1) knocks the ball off van Aanholt to Chambers (+1), then Chambers passes to Aubameyang down the right. Corner. | ||||
| 8:06 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 1-0 |
| Another delicious serve from Pépé (+0.5) is flicked on at the near post by Lacazette (+1), then smashed into the net by Luiz (+2). 2-0. | ||||
| 9:48 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Luiz (+0.5) advances the Arsenal cause with a 40 yard ball into Lacazette, but his first touch takes him away from goal and Palace recover. | ||||
| 10:41 | Tierney | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Tierney (+0.5) surprises the Arsenal front three with his ability to turn a cross in out of nothing. It’s cleared out for a throw—Lacazette with the thumbs-up. | ||||
| 10:59 | Tierney | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (+1) leads Tierney (+1) down the left. He beats Ward and crosses to Lacazette (+1), who collects and shoots low to Hennessey’s right, forcing a terrific save. | ||||
| 11:36 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Zaha tries to beat Sokratis (+0.5) for pace down the left, but Sokratis slides in to knock out of play. | ||||
| 12:40 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Ceballos, playing on the left, doesn’t track Ward down the sideline and allows him to cross. Sokratis (+0.5) shields Ayew off, then Chambers (+0.5) finishes the clearance, albeit for a corner. | ||||
| 13:14 | Guendouzi | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Palace take the corner short but eventually send it to Tomkins at the back post. Guendouzi (+0.5/+2) bodies him off forcing a wild header into the air, then recovers it himself and plays Aubameyang (-1) through on goal from inside his own box—In the end it’s a 60 yard pass. Aubameyang’s final touch lets him down and he scuffs his shot wide. | ||||
| 16:33 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Xhaka (+1) splits three Palace players with a pass into Ceballos, then Ceballos plays wide left to Tierney. Tierney’s attempted slip-pass to Lacazette down the channel is blocked out of bounds. | ||||
| 17:00 | Chambers | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (+1) passes Chambers (-1) into 1v1 down the right, but his cross goes miles over. | ||||
| 17:35 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Hennessey clears long but Sokratis (+1) gets the better of Ayew, chesting the ball to Xhaka. | ||||
| 17:49 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Xhaka (-1) tries a 50+ yard pass to Lacazette that’s instead straight to Hennessey. | ||||
| 17:57 | Xhaka | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Xhaka (-1) goes for the steal on Milivojevic’s entry pass into Ayew but gets spun and commits the foul after a short chase. | ||||
| 18:21 | Chambers | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Sokratis (-0.5) forces Ayew back towards Chambers (+1), who tackles, with the ball falling to Sokratis. He clears out of bounds despite having time to turn and do something else. | ||||
| 20:38 | Pépé | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Chambers (+0.5/+0.5) heads Hennessey’s clearance to Pépé (+1/-1), who wriggles free of McArthur to outlet the ball to Lacazette. He gives back to Pépé, who takes a heavy touch and loses it. | ||||
| 21:04 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Milivojevic passes to Ward on the Palace right, who flicks into the pathway of Townsend. Ceballos (-1) slow to react. Townsend’s cross floats and is easily collected by Leno (+0.5) | ||||
| 21:47 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (+1) squeezes the ball into Aubameyang (-1), but he whiffs his back heel. | ||||
| 22:17 | Pépé | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Pépé (+1) reads Tomkins’ pass into McArthur near midfield, but his pass to Aubameyang get blocked out of bounds. | ||||
| 22:38 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (+1) with another pin-point pass, this time to Lacazette on the edge of the attacking third. He passes Xhaka, who plays to Ceballos (+1), who sprays wide right for Chambers. Chambers escapes van Aanholt momentarily, then wins the corner. | ||||
| 23:28 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| A third outstanding corner of the day from Pépé (+0.5). This one bounces inside the six and is cleared for a corner on the other side. | ||||
| 23:51 | Ceballos | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Corner taken short. Tierney (+1) olés Townsend then passes to Ceballos who has his cross blocked. | ||||
| 25:24 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (+1) is running the show at 20 years old. Here he splits the lines into Ceballos to advance Arsenal over the half line. | ||||
| 25:46 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Chambers goes under Pépé (+1/-1) whose attempted pass gets blocked back to him. No matter, he beats two players off the dribble instead. Then he wastes the ball by smashing the ball into the on-rushing defender. | ||||
| 26:28 | Guendouzi | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (-1) misjudges the flight of Hennessey’s long ball, allowing Kouyate to flick onto Ayew. Sokratis (+0.5) and Chambers (+0.5) combine to force Palace back. | ||||
| 27:12 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| I’m not sure Ceballos (-0.5) has the defensive awareness to play as a #8. He certainly didn’t here. Arsenal have Palace surrounded but Ceballos gets drawn to the ball, leaving Milivojevic in the process. Milivojevic’s into McArthur is flicked on to the offside van Aanholt, then Chambers clears under pressure from Ayew. | ||||
| 27:35 | Aubameyang | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Aubameyang (+0.5) in the right place at the right time to take advantage of Ward’s slip, but opts to turn back instead of going 1v3. | ||||
| 28:01 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| Guendouzi (-1) underhits his long pass for Tierney, allowing Ward to head back to Hennessey. | ||||
| 28:19 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-0 |
| A single pass from Milivojevic is all it takes to put Chambers (-2) on skates. He’s begging for an offside flag that doesn’t come, then gets skinned inside the box and commits the foul for the penalty (after VAR review). | ||||
| 31:52 | Xhaka | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| They’re still showing replays after play has restarted so we can’t see how Palace end up back with the ball. We can see Xhaka (-1) position himself well to intercept, but fail to move his feet and instead kick the ball out of bounds. | ||||
| 32:29 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ayew gets the better of Sokratis (-1), but his cross is blocked out for a corner by Xhaka (+0.5). Luiz (+0.5) wins it. | ||||
| 33:20 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ceballos (+0.5) presses Townsend into Sokratis (+1), who finishes the job defensively, carries the ball over midfield, and earns the foul. | ||||
| 33:53 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Another impressive pass between the lines from Guendouzi (+1), this time into Pépé, but his flick on for Lacazette goes too far. | ||||
| 34:41 | Lacazette | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Chambers does Lacazette (-1) no favors by throwing him the ball surrounded by four Palace defenders. Still, Lacazette’s attempts to hold the ball, rather than release it, ends with a turnover. | ||||
| 34:49 | Xhaka | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Zaha runs at the Arsenal backline, but Sokratis (+0.5) and Xhaka (+1) team up to win the ball off him. Chambers (-1) then misplaces his pass for Lacazette. | ||||
| 35:08 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Chambers (+1) nicks the ball off Zaha at midfield. | ||||
| 35:20 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Luiz (+1) plays a 40 yard pass into Lacazette, whose layoff to Chambers is played into Ceballos (+1) on the right. His chip nearly goes in, but rolls out at the back post. | ||||
| 36:29 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| First Sokratis (+0.5) and then Tierney (+0.5) block entry passes. Palace end up with a throw on the right. | ||||
| 36:55 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ayew goes into a 1v3 with Ceballos (-0.5/+1/-1), Tierney (-0.5) and Xhaka (-0.5/+0.5) and wins. He lays off to Kouyate, who passes to Ward and gets the ball taken off him by Ceballos. His clearance bounces off Ward back to Kouyate, but Xhaka blocks into the air, then Luiz (+0.5) does the same on Ayew’s shot, before clearing himself. | ||||
| 37:21 | Aubameyang | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Aubameyang (+0.5) closes down Ward, blocking to Xhaka who heads clear. Palace come again. McArthur picks up the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box and Guendouzi (-0.5) inexplicably overplays the pass wide, giving up the middle. Xhaka (+1) recognizes and wins the ball (with his hand—no call), clearing to Milivojevic. He takes a poor touch allowing Lacazette (+0.5) to steal. Arsenal’s counter attack ends when Pépé (-1) let the ball go through his legs. | ||||
| 37:45 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Pépé (+0.5) retrieves the ball and passes into Guendouzi’s (+0.5) path. Guendouzi passes wide to Chambers who crosses, but it’s cleared for a corner. | ||||
| 39:19 | Ceballos | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ceballos (+1) splits two defenders with a pass into Lacazette (+0.5), who goes 1v3 and earns a corner. | ||||
| 40:08 | Tierney | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Palace clear the corner and look to break, but Tierney (+1) gets a foot in the way and knocks the ball to Pépé (+1). Pépé glides past van Aanholt with the help of a David Luiz basketball-style pick, then squares to Tierney, who has his cross blocked to Ceballos (-1). Ceballos’ heavy touch allows Palace to steal, but Xhaka (+0.5) gets in the way of Zaha’s driving run to slow everything down. | ||||
| 40:00 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka (+1) finally connects on his cross field pass to Pépé, but after he drives inside Tierney (-1) loses the ball attempting to go 1v2 down the left. | ||||
| 42:24 | Luiz | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Luiz (-1) tries to split the lines again, but this time shanks it and Palace attack down the right. Xhaka (-1) inexplicably leaves Townsend to cross, but he might know something I don’t because Townsend’s cross is poor and Leno (-0.5) claims easily. Leno tries to hit Lacazette on the counter, but instead gifts the ball to Tomkins. | ||||
| 43:12 | Lacazette | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Another pass between the lines from Xhaka (+1) to Lacazette (+1), who holds the ball for five touches before earning the foul just across midfield. | ||||
| 43:21 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka (+1) takes the free kick quickly to Aubameyang (+1), whose intricate pass into Pépé (+1) creates a chance to score, but Pépé’s shot goes just wide. Offside on second viewing. I’m keeping the points. | ||||
| 44:09 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka makes contact with Hennessey’s goal kick, flicking the ball onto Guendouzi (-1), who allows Ayew to step across him and steal. | ||||
| 44:14 | Luiz | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Luiz (+1) reads McArthur’s pass a mile away, stepping in front of Townsend to start Arsenal on the break. | ||||
| 44:29 | Luiz | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Zaha’s turn to come out second best to Luiz (+1). | ||||
| 44:40 | Ceballos | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ceballos’ (-1) pass evades Chambers, crossing the end line a step before he gets a foot to cross. | ||||
| 45:30 | Xhaka | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka (-1) flails around Kouyate and Townsend for two or three seconds but can’t win the ball. | ||||
| 46:18 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ward crosses for Ayew, but Sokratis (+0.5) wins the header. | ||||
| 46:33 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Tierney (-1/-1) gives up the cross, but Chambers clears at the back post. Xhaka (-1) steps to van Aanholt but gets nutmegged on the pass, then fails to recover in time to prevent the layoff. van Aanholt beats Tierney to the right and fires a shot that Leno (+1) saves. Pépé (+0.5) and Aubameyang (+0.5) work together to prevent anything else. | ||||
| 47:42 | Chambers | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Chambers (-1) tries to find Lacazette down the right side of the Palace box, but misses by a lot. | ||||
| 2nd Half | ||||
| Time | Primary Player | Attack/Defense | Formation | Score |
| 45:09 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| The standard hoof-ball from kickoff bounces towards the Arsenal box for Leno to claim, but Sokratis (-0.5) takes no chances and clears ahead of him. Dinged because it goes straight to Milivojevic. | ||||
| 45:13 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Chambers clears and Ceballos (-1) too aggressive on Kouyate, putting Tierney in a 1v2. He tracks back but can’t get there before the cross goes in. Luiz (+0.5) clears. | ||||
| 45:39 | Tierney | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Tierney (+1) tackles Kouyate’s attempted cutback allowing Ceballos (-0.5/+1) to clear. Ward heads back to Townsend, but Ceballos intercepts. | ||||
| 45:47 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka (+1) nutmegs McArthur on the edge of his own box, then passes to Guendouzi. His outlet to Pépé should be picked off, but van Aanholt misses the ball—no minus. Pépé (-0.5) gets too much air on cross-field pass to Aubameyang, but it does get there. Aubameyang beats Ward, gets taken out to the point that his shoe comes off, yet doesn’t get the foul. Okay dot gif. | ||||
| 47:13 | Aubameyang | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Lacazette (+1) passes to Aubameyang (-1) on the left, but his cut back rolls weakly to the Palace defense and despite Ceballos (+0.5) racing in to make a sliding tackle, Palace come away with a throw. | ||||
| 48:38 | Lacazette | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Leno (+0.5) releases Lacazette (-1) into midfield, but his first touch allows Kouyate to tackle. | ||||
| 48:42 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Ayew dribbles into the Arsenal third 1v5, but Sokratis (-1) thinks there’s enough danger to go to ground and commit the foul. | ||||
| 49:38 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Tierney (-0.5) and Chambers (-0.5) both come out second best on aerial duels before Sokratis gets a foot in ahead of McArthur to clear for a corner. Leno (+0.5) claims it. | ||||
| 50:01 | Sokratis | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Sokratis (-1) tries to lead the counter attack but gets bodied off by McArthur. Townsend then goes at Xhaka, pushing the ball past him before being shoulder barged to the ground. Foul. Yellow card to Chambers. | ||||
| 51:03 | Luiz | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Kouyate makes contact on van Aanholt’s free kick into the box only because Luiz (-1) misjudges it. The header goes backwards to Ceballos, so it doesn’t amount to anything. | ||||
| 51:10 | Chambers | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Chambers (+1) steps ahead of Zaha to win Cahill’s clearance, heading to Pépé (-2). He ties to pass with his left foot instead of right, resulting in a weak pass that misses Aubameyang, who would have been through on goal. | ||||
| 51:19 | Xhaka | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-1 |
| Xhaka (-1/-1) loses McArthur in midfield, then fails to block his cross despite recovering enough to get in good position to do so. Luiz (-2) loses Ayew at the back post. 2-2. | ||||
| 52:48 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Arsenal look to answer immediately, but Pépé (-1) gets Chambers’ entry pass stuck under his feet and it rolls out of bounds. | ||||
| 54:47 | Sokratis | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Arsenal pass the ball around their backline (+ Guendouzi) for nearly a minute before Sokratis (-1) impatiently hits long for Tierney. Ward clears but Ceballos (+1) wins back, only for Tierney (-0.5) to get bodied off by Townsend. | ||||
| 56:00 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Xhaka (-1) misplays his first-time pass to Pépé so badly that the referee can’t get out of the way. | ||||
| 56:41 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Sokratis (-1) gets outjumped by Ayew for Hennessey’s clearance, but Luiz (-0.5) confidently passes back to Leno. Unfortunately for Arsenal, he misses wide by about 10 yards. The inaccuracy forces Leno to play long and enables Palace to win back, but after Xhaka (-1) gets nutmegged, Tierney (+1) tackles and forces the ball out for an Arsenal throw. | ||||
| 57:26 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Chambers passes to Pépé (+1) in the right corner, then he holds the ball for 11 seconds before getting the cross off. Cleared. | ||||
| 57:50 | Guendouzi | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Tierney heads to Guendouzi (-1) who turtles and lets Kouyate steal the ball. After Ceballos nearly wins the ball back Townsend hits a hopeful ball that Luiz (-2) nonchalantly passes straight to Palace. Sokratis (+1) clears the counter attempt. | ||||
| 58:37 | Guendouzi | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Guendouzi (-1) consistently sturggles to read the ball in the air. Here he gets caught under the ball and allows Kouyate to tap backwards to retain Palace possession, but Pépé (+0.5) and Xhaka (+1) combine to nick the ball off Zaha. | ||||
| 58:56 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| A simple enough through ball to Aubameyang down the right is underhit by Pépé (-1) so it’s intercepted. | ||||
| 59:17 | Xhaka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Xhaka’s (+1) last involvement before everything kicks off is to play Lacazette between the lines, but Laca’s first-time pass for Aubameyang is cut out. | ||||
| 59:26 | Guendouzi | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Guendouzi (-1/+1) stabs at the outlet pass but gets shielded off by Ayew. Sokratis (-1) and Chambers (-1) both step and get beaten, allowing Ayew to play up to Zaha, 1v1 with Luiz. Luiz (+1) delays long enough for Guendouzi to make it back 50+ yards, then blocks the shot. | ||||
| 60:01 | Saka | Substitution | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Saka subs on for Xhaka. We all know what happens next. | ||||
| 60:46 | Pépé | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Pépé (+1) steals the ball off Zaha, lays off to Chambers (-1), and watches as he clears to no one. | ||||
| 61:08 | Guendouzi | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Zaha gets the better of Guendouzi (-1) down the left to cross, but Sokratis (+0.5) blocks. | ||||
| 61:31 | Chambers | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Lacazette (+2) waits for Chambers (+1/-1) to get around him, then puts the ball on a plate for him to cross. He does, has it blocked by Ward, then shanks his shot four yards wide. | ||||
| 62:29 | Pépé | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Two fortunate bounces: Guendouzi (+0.5) blocks McArthur’s header; Lacazette (-0.5) plays a poor pass that’s headed into Pépé’s (+1/-1) path. As a result, Arsenal advance the ball to the edge of the Palace box, but Pépé’s pass to Saka instead goes straight to Cahill. | ||||
| 62:38 | Tierney | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Arsenal win the ball back because Tierney (+1) sprints 20 yards to press Townsend. Ceballos (+1/-1) actually puts the tackle in, then gives it back by passing behind Aubameyang. | ||||
| 62:57 | Luiz | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Ceballos and Saka can’t catch Townsend but no matter because Luiz (+1) crunches him. | ||||
| 64:38 | Chambers | Transition | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Chambers’ (+1/-1) makes two entry passes, one good (to Aubameyang), one not (to Pépé). Guendouzi (+1) reads Palace the outlet pass well, intercepts, and draws the foul on the right side of the box. | ||||
| 65:47 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Pépé (+0.5/+0.5) puts the ball into a dangerous area, but Palace get a head on it to flick out. He takes the ensuing corner and puts it on Lacazette’s (+1) head, but Hennessey is well positioned and saves. | ||||
| 67:48 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Chambers (+1) chases down Zaha in the Palace end and nicks the ball off him. | ||||
| 69:27 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Pépé (-0.5) wastes the free kick by hitting it over. | ||||
| 70:02 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Aubameyang can’t get in front of McArthur to win the ball, but does press him into Ceballos (-1), who wastes the effort by fouling. | ||||
| 71:46 | Lacazette | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Guendouzi (+1) scoop passes to Lacazette (+2) inside the box, who still has a lot to do. He does it, turning Cahill and firing a shot off the near post. | ||||
| 72:28 | Tierney | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Tierney (-0.5) gives up the inside to Townsend, who gladly takes it and passes to McArthur. The ball swings to van Aanholt, then inside to Zaha, who’s given too much space by Chambers (-0.5) and Sokratis (-0.5). The shot goes over. | ||||
| 73:06 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Another Luiz (-1) long ball. Another turnover. | ||||
| 73:14 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Zaha goes 1v2 at Guendouzi (-1) and Chambers (-1) and wins. | ||||
| 73:48 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Zaha beats Pépé (-1) down the left to get a cross in, but Sokratis (+0.5) blocks. | ||||
| 74:07 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Ayew tries to box out Chambers (+1) but loses. Goal kick. | ||||
| 74:20 | Kolasinac | Substitution | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Kolasinac comes on for Tierney, with much less fanfare than the Saka substitution 15 minutes earlier. | ||||
| 75:01 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| McArthur cuts out Luiz’s (-1) attempted pass into Lacazette. After starting strongly, Luiz has turned the ball over four times in a row. | ||||
| 75:54 | Saka | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Saka (-1) tries to head back to Kolasinac but puts it wide of him, forcing the clearance out for a throw. | ||||
| 76:11 | Saka | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Ayew does well to hold off Luiz inside the Arsenal box, but Guendouzi (+0.5) and Saka (+0.5) drop in to help and win a goal kick that probably should have been a corner. | ||||
| 77:01 | Saka | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Saka (+1) chases Kouyate for 30 yards and earns a foul. | ||||
| 78:00 | Ceballos | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Ceballos (-1) leaves Chambers short down the right, allowing van Aanholt to swoop in and steal. | ||||
| 78:06 | Pépé | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Who says Pépé (+1) doesn’t defend? Here he’s covering Chambers at right back and intercepts Zaha’s pass, then plays to Guendouzi, who’s fouled. | ||||
| 78:40 | Chambers | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| It doesn’t look like much, but Guendouzi’s (+1) pass is inch perfect, putting Chambers through on the right to cross. He does, but it’s headed clear by Tomkins. | ||||
| 79:15 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| The worst of Luiz’s (-2) passes on the day; I can’t even figure out what he was trying to do. Minus two. Considered minus seven. | ||||
| 79:24 | Sokratis | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Sokratis (+1) does well to keep up with the speedy Zaha and slide tackle out for a corner. | ||||
| 80:52 | Leno | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Leno (+0.5) out to punch bravely, right to Pépé (-1), whose poor touch allows Zaha to win back for Palace. | ||||
| 81:20 | Ceballos | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Ceballos (+1) reads Benteke’s pass back to van Aanholt. | ||||
| 81:28 | Kolasinac | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Kolasinac (+1) doing his best Tierney impression, finds Lacazette on the break, who passes to Pépé for the cross. Corner. | ||||
| 82:12 | Sokratis | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Pépé (+0.5) with another terrific corner, nodded on by Lacazette (+1). After a scrum, Sokratis (+2) fires home for 3-2, only to be called back by VAR a minute later for a phantom foul. Unbelievable. | ||||
| 86:42 | Lacazette | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Lacazette (+1) plays the ball into the sprinting Pépé, but Palace close down and knock out for a corner. | ||||
| 87:56 | Luiz | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Guendouzi (+1/+1) and Saka (+1) combine down the left to send the former into the box, then he slots back to Lacazette (+1), who lays off for Luiz. His shot is saved (remarkably) by Hennessey. | ||||
| 90:01 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Benteke outjumps Luiz (-1) to flick on to Zaha, who turns Chambers (-1) to shoot. Deflected wide. | ||||
| 90:54 | Kolasinac | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Kolasinac (+1) goes toe to toe with Benteke and comes out on top, earning a foul in the corner. | ||||
| 91:24 | Pépé | Attack | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Pépé (-1) ignores Chambers in favor of going 1v1 at Milivojevic, and loses the ball. | ||||
| 92:10 | Lacazette | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Free kick to Palace that Lacazette (+0.5) gets a head to first. | ||||
| 92:30 | Kolasinac | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Benteke beats Luiz (-1) to nearly put himself through on goal, but Kolasinac (+1) backs up well. | ||||
| 92:50 | Chambers | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| Zaha dribbles right at Chambers (+1) inside the Arsenal box, but Chambers stands up and kicks the ball off him. | ||||
| 95:25 | Guendouzi | Defense | 4-4-2 | 2-2 |
| In the final minute of the game, Palace counter off an Arsenal corner. Guendouzi (+1) puts a stop to it by rugby tackling Zaha. Could have been scored negatively; I loved it. | ||||
Granit Xhaka hasn’t been good for a while. Neither has VAR. Both fucked Arsenal on Sunday, sending live grenades into the tailspin that’s existed since Sokratis’ fateful pass against Watford.
But both have been beaten to death across any and all Arsenal news outlets, and four days later there’s not much to add. The VAR decision was universally derided. The Xhaka reaction was either entirely unbecoming of an Arsenal captain, or an understandable human reaction to being booed his own fans, depending largely on the degree to which you’re Emery Out.
Another thousand words rehashing either won’t make anyone feel better. Least of all me. So let’s discuss the play on the field…
Chart
Half of Arsenal’s starting field players put up negative scores, led by David Luiz’s and Calum Chambers’ -3.
Chambers is what he is at this point; you can’t blame him for it.
Luiz was wildly disappointing though. Forget poor execution, there were a number of sequences where I couldn’t even make out what he was trying to do:
Ceballos is marked soundly here, and Luiz tries to pass it to him anyway. For what purpose? Because it’s fun to thread passes between the lines?
This one is the worst pass an Arsenal player has made this season:
He put up a steady stream of +0.5s on simple clearances, and scored Arsenal’s second goal for +2. Without those, he’s -10 on the day, including losing Jordan Ayew for Palace’s tying goal.
Eek.
Nicolas Pépé‘s day was mixed. Fifteen seconds before 2-2, he had the opportunity to put Aubameyang through on goal. Instead he did this:
He’s done the hard work, bodying off van Aanholt and recognizing the pocket of space behind James Tomkins. But for the 10th (20th? 50th?) time this season, his final ball execution is lacking and the chance amounts to nothing.
He scored a net positive because of his +5 defensively though, showing an intensity on that side of the ball that we haven’t seen from him in an Arsenal shirt. Here he is in the sixth minute, forcing the corner that Arsenal would score their first goal from:
…and here he is in the 59th, on the edge of his own box:
He’s never going to be Alexis Sanchez defensively. If he defends like this, he’ll be more than serviceable.
Two players were vying for OPR™ Player of the Game throughout this one. Matteo Guendouzi (+8) didn’t win. He did make this pass four separate times though:
He also made this one:
His most impressive of the day deserved better from Aubameyang:
He still struggles on aerial balls and defensive awareness, but he’s 20 years old and running the show for a top-six Premier League side. His signature on a new contract can’t come soon enough.
Another player Arsenal are hoping to lock up long term: Alexandre Lacazette. He was the top performer, putting up a +10 in his first start in two months. He had two separate +2 moves. The first was on Guendouzi’s scoop pass above. The second was this pass into Chambers:
He’s not as clinical as Aubameyang, but he’s much more apt to bring his teammates into the game:
…and he’s certainly not afraid to shoot himself:
Arsenal are lucky to have him (and Aubameyang), and the biggest fear I have with all turmoil of late is that Arsenal will waste their prime years.
What does it mean for Wolves?
Wait until stoppage time to take the lead?
Arsenal have given up a two goal lead twice in 10 Premier League games this season. They did it again, twice, on Wednesday in the League Cup against Liverpool.
Unai Emery has coached some of Europe’s best talent over the past 15 years, so we’re assuming he’s not blind. But the same thing continues to happen every time Arsenal get a lead, and you’d think he also has noticed.
If the Gunners come out and attack for 90 minutes, they have the talent to win. If they drop back into a shell at any point, then they won’t. Based on the past 10 games, it’s tough to predict the former.
Prediction: Arsenal 1 – 1 Wolves