Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal: Tactical analysis and 5 talking points | Premier League 2018/19

Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 against Arsenal in a crucial Premier League match at Wembley today. Spurs now have 61 points from 29 matches, whereas Arsenal have 57 from the same number of matches.

Tottenham are still the favourites to finish at the 3rd place, whereas Arsenal would have to fight with Manchester United and Chelsea for a top 4 finish.

The North London derby was a scrappy affair at times, as the teams got involved in a midfield slugfest for the majority of the match. Arsenal took the lead in the 16th minute through a strike from Aaron Ramsey, while Tottenham equalized in the 74th minute through a Harry Kane penalty.

A late Aubameyang penalty miss meant the Gunners failed to go within a point of their London rivals.

Overall, Tottenham was the dominant team in the match with almost 60% ball possession, but Arsenal made some swift counter-attacking moves of their own. We would now take a look at the tactical analysis and 5 talking points of the match:

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#1 Arsenal went ahead through a beautiful goal (and a defensive blunder!)

Aaron Ramsey rounded the keeper to open the scoring

Aaron Ramsey, who is set to leave Arsenal for Juventus at the end of the season, showed his class yet again by scoring a wonderful goal. He dodged past Tottenham’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to slot the ball home in the 16th minute of the match. Davinson Sanchez's poor bit of defending allowed the Gunners to take the lead.

This was Ramsey’s 62nd goal for Arsenal in his 361st match for them. Unai Emery started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka playing as a double pivot in the midfield, and Ramsey, Alex Iwobi and Henrik Mkhitaryan playing as attacking midfielders. Alexandre Lacazette started as the lone forward for them.

Arsenal wanted to continue their good run in today’s match also, after having beaten Bournemouth 5-1 in their previous Premier League game on Wednesday. They got the desired start today also and looked the better team for the first 30 minutes of the match.

Ramsey showed flashes of brilliance, but could not quite dictate terms in the midfield. Lacazette also had a quiet match, missing a glorious chance in the second half before being substituted.

Ozil did come in in the second half, but could not make much of a difference in the match.

#2 Tottenham came back slowly and almost scored

The Arsenal keeper made a terrific double save at the end of the first half

Spurs recovered from the initial blow to take control of the match gradually. Harry Kane, their talismanic captain was inspirational as the centre-forward again and played some incisive passes to Son-Heung-Min. However, Son was below par today and had to be substituted in the second half.

Tottenham attacked through the right flank primarily and their right wing-back Kieran Trippier played some nice crosses into the Arsenal penalty box. Kane also fell back to win the ball at times and delivered a sumptuous chip into the path of Eriksen inside the opposition box.

The Danish midfielder forced a smart save from Arsenal's goalkeeper Bernd Leno from point-blank range, before making the save of the match against Sissoko from the subsequent rebound.

This was a great opportunity for the home team to draw level just before the half time, but they squandered it. They also got a few more chances but suffered because of the profligacy of their forwards.

#3 Both teams made substitutions, and Arsenal defended well

Sokratis was a rock at the back

Arsenal took off Guendouzi to introduce Lucas Torreira in the second half. This change was made to gain control of the midfield, as Torreira is a more forceful player than Guendouzi. However, Tottenham still continued to have the better share of exchanges and dominated the midfield battle.

Arsenal’s defenders defended deep and made some vital challenges inside their own penalty box. Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny battled bravely for the Gunners and kept the Tottenham attackers at bay.

Tottenham also introduced Erik Lamela in the midfield in order to create more goal-scoring opportunities. The Argentine saw a lot of the ball but could not do much with it. Moussa Sissoko also won a lot of balls for the Spurs, but could not create too many chances due to the compact nature of the Arsenal midfield.

Arsenal also took off the ineffective Lacazette to introduce Pierre-Emerick-Aubemyang, who impressed with his darting runs at times. Finally, Ramsey made way for Ozil.

#4 Tottenham finally score (linesman misses the offside call)

Kane was fouled but replays showed that he was in an offside position

Tottenham won a free-kick in the final third, and Kane was fouled by Shkodran Mustafi, as he tried to head in Eriksen’s delivery. Mustafi played as a makeshift right-back today and made a clumsy challenge in order to stop the advancing Kane.

However, Kane was probably already in an offside position, when the cross was delivered. The official could not spot it and did not raise his flag as a result. Kane made no mistake in converting from the spot. It was his 22nd goal of the season.

Kane now has 162 goals in 246 matches for the Spurs and remains one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the Premier League in the modern era. He was duly rewarded for his tireless performance as he kept troubling the Arsenal defence throughout the match.

#5 Tottenham change their shape and almost concede

Hugo Lloris turned out to be the hero for Spurs today

Tottenham started with a 3-5-2 formation with Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier as the left and right wing backs respectively. However, Mauricio Pochettino shifted Jan Vertonghen to the left-back position and Rose started playing as a defensive midfielder in the second half after the withdrawal of Victor Wanyama.

Their switch to a back four almost backfired, as Vertonghen struggled to adjust to an unfamiliar position. He conceded possession in the dying minutes of the match, and Mkhitaryan played a wonderful through ball to Aubameyang, who entered into the box and was apparently fouled by Davinson Sanchez.

The referee pointed to the spot, but on closer inspection, it seemed that Aubameyang had probably gone down too easily after Sanchez's lightest of touches on the Gabonese striker.

Hugo Lloris guessed right to stop Aubameyang’s penalty and earn a point for his team. Torreira was sent off in the injury time for a reckless challenge on Rose, and Arsenal finished the match with subdued spirits and 10 men.