Arsenal vs. West Ham United: Tactical Preview of Premier League Game
Arsenal face West Ham in a London clash on Saturday, with the game serving as their final chance to fine-tune the side ahead of a huge game in Monaco next week in the UEFA Champions League. The Hammers, who are winless in their last seven attempts in all competitions, face a steep task in turning their late-season slide around.
Arsenal News
Let's get the injury list out of the way first: Mikel Arteta, Abou Diaby, Mathieu Debuchy, Mathieu Flamini and Jack Wilshere. They're out. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hurt his hamstring at Old Trafford on Monday and is also out, while Gabriel Paulista is unlikely to return from his own hamstring ailment.
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The side pretty much picks itself as a result, though Theo Walcott will likely have to make do with a place on the bench once again. Expect Olivier Giroud back up front with Danny Welbeck moved to the right.
Nacho Monreal scored on Monday and will likely resume at left-back, while Calum Chambers is well off the pace in the race for right-back. Hector Bellerin is the choice.
West Ham News
Sam Allardyce's men have been a lot of fun in the 4-4-2 diamond, but in this type of game—away to a very strong opponent—they've tended to move more toward the 4-2-3-1 formation. That's what we're predicting here.
Enner Valencia is a doubt ahead of the game due to a bizarre toe injury involving a broken cup, per BBC Sport, and Winston Reid is a question mark too. Alex Song could return to play his former charges, but Carl Jenkinson is ineligible against his parent club.
With Andy Carroll and Carlton Cole also injured, the Hammers are short on firepower and will be praying Diafra Sakho avoids knocks, bruises, tweaks and strains. He really is the only option up front.
Key Point 1: Workmanlike West Ham
This isn't likely to be an exciting performance from West Ham. Allardyce has too many key injuries and will instruct his side to play compact, careful football.
A holding midfield duo of Cheikhou Kouyate and Alex Song should out-muscle any opponent in the engine room, while Mark Noble playing just ahead can be the snappy, aggressive presence that stops attacks high up.
The wingers—likely Stewart Downing and Morgan Amalfitano/Matt Jarvis with Valencia out—will pin back and track the full-backs, chasing them and aiding their own full-backs when faced up vs. pace and overlapping.
Sakho will be the quick ball out of defence, and he'll need to be on his toes and ready to hold it up to buy his side time to get up the pitch.
Key Point 2: It Must be 4-3-3 for Arsenal
Arsenal made a huge mistake against Monaco: they converted from a 4-3-3 base to a 4-2-3-1. While that pushed Mesut Ozil a little further forward and ramped up the attacking pressure in the final third, it ruined what they'd been doing so well in defensive midfield up to that point.
Francis Coquelin has been excelling as the sole holding midfielder, able to make proactive moves to intercept and dominate the entire width of the field. He man-marks, zonal marks or jumps in front of opponents; he's been showing the full repertoire.
But shifting him to an LDM role, essentially forcing him to cover a side of the pitch, not all of it, and placing Santi Cazorla even deeper alongside, ruined the spine of the team and opened them up to ruthless Monaco counter-attacks. Geoffrey Kondogbia was devastating, but the Gunners allowed it to happen.
The Hammers also have strong countering threats, with Kouyate and Downing good carriers of the ball. They need Coquelin free to latch onto the nearest threat and able to tackle and harass; splitting his assignment with Cazorla or Aaron Ramsey would hurt the team.
