After a sensational weekend of Premier League action, football writer Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons, including:
- Arsenal's 4-4-2 being found out
- Bournemouth win midfield battle
- Emery makes rare costly error
- Slot embraces chaos at the right time
- Amorim taking charge of club close to rock bottom
- Forest fans can start to dream of Europe
- Cunha excels after formation change
- Ipswich's naivety punished by Leicester
- Can Armstrong's goal be a turning point for Saints?
Arsenal’s 4-4-2 looks increasingly stale and unconvincing
“We deserved to lose today.”
Mikel Arteta’s honest assessment marks a change in tone for Arsenal, who are in danger of falling out of the title race altogether after a third straight game without a Premier League victory.
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And he was right. Eddie Howe knew to sit in a compressed 4-4-2 formation that packed the middle with bodies and doubled up on Bukayo Saka. He knew it would limit an Arsenal side badly struggling for creativity at the moment.
Arteta’s 4-4-2 just isn’t working. Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard are becoming easy to track as they dove-tail dropping off into the No 10 space, while the midfield partnership of Declan Rice and Mikel Merino looks too flat.
But most of all the shape is simply too square and too boxy, compared to the triangles created when Rice and Martin Odegaard play as dual No 8s.
On Saturday, the Arsenal players seemed perpetually square on to one another, as you can see below, allowing the ultra-compact Newcastle United block to hold firm.
They looked risk-averse and caged in, short of ideas aside from giving the ball to Saka; a problem thrown into relief by the clever positional switches between Joelinton and Joe Willock on Newcastle’s left.
Arteta’s side had an Expected Goals (xG) score of just 1.1, but what’s worse is it was their fifth-highest total of the season so far.
The manager needs to make a drastic tactical change - or Arsenal won’t challenge for the title.
Bournemouth win midfield battle to blow Man City away
Like Arsenal, Manchester City deserved their defeat.
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“We couldn’t handle their intensity,” was Pep Guardiola’s accurate summary of a ferocious AFC Bournemouth performance defined by winning the second balls and galloping forward in the transition.
Predictably, Andoni Iraola’s focus was on a targeted midfield press and fast transitions to poke holes in a Rodri-less midfield, although perhaps less predictable was Man City’s issue around Kyle Walker.
Bournemouth’s impressive ability to win tackles and make interceptions squeezed the middle of the pitch.
After claiming possession, Bournemouth bombed forward through Antoine Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier, taking advantage of some timidity in the two-man midfield of Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan, as well as an emerging issue with Walker.
Phil Foden was beaten by Milos Kerkez in the build-up to the opener, with Walker slow to help out, and then Walker was beaten for pace in a fast break that led to the winner.
If City develop an issue down that side, on top of their weakened midfield, then Bournemouth won’t be the last mid-table team to deny them three points.
Emery’s tactical error proves fatal
At half-time, with Aston Villa 1-0 up, Unai Emery will have been broadly pleased with his side’s performance, even if an excellent Tottenham Hotspur press was pinning them back a little and preventing the visitors from passing the ball out from defence.
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They remained competitive and Spurs’ equal right up to the 69th minute, when Emery made probably his most glaring tactical error since becoming Villa head coach.
Spurs had long wanted a transitional game, preferring things to be stretched, whereas Villa were constantly hoping to slow the game down and recycle.
And Villa largely got their way – up until Emery brought on Jhon Duran for Morgan Rogers and moved to a 4-4-2 formation.
This meant Villa no longer had an attacking midfielder to receive the ball between the lines, and instead had two strikers stretching the game lengthways by making runs in behind.
Inevitably the match became more transitional with more space in midfield, and, inevitably, Spurs accelerated away.
There was no better example than Spurs’ critical second goal, which changed the momentum of the contest.
As you can see in the image below, just seconds before Dominic Solanke scores, Villa are forced to counter-attack at speed because there is nobody in the Rogers position to receive the ball from Amadou Onana, hold possession and allow the visitors to regroup.
Spurs won it back, started another wave of pressure and produced a game-changing moment.
Slot boldly embraces chaos in second-half tactical shift
We need to rethink the definition of control.
When we say Arne Slot’s football is more controlled than Jurgen Klopp’s, we usually mean slower, with the ball passed square or backwards more often so Liverpool can stay in a shape that prevents games becoming stretched.
But control can also mean understanding when to slow things down and when to speed things up, and on Saturday, Slot showed his expertise here, embracing chaotic football at the right moment to win Liverpool the three points.
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His side were sluggish in the first half. Alexis Mac Allister, presumably picked because he slows the tempo and could stop Brighton from pulling the hosts into an end-to-end game, was struggling to assert himself. Fabian Hurzeler’s men were worthy of their 1-0 lead.
Then, in the 66th minute, Slot brought on two wilder players in Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz, fielding Jones deeper and Diaz as a No 10. Suddenly Liverpool allowed the game to become a little feral.
They scored twice in this period, substitutes Jones and Diaz gliding up the pitch with a brilliant one-two to create Mohamed Salah’s winner.
Almost as soon as that goal went in, Slot brought on Wataru Endo for Darwin Nunez and shut up shop.
It was a masterclass in changing the tempo up and down; in releasing control and regaining it.
Slot hasn’t just continued the Klopp way, he has taken Liverpool to the next level.
Amorim will inherit a club close to rock bottom
Manchester United showed character in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea, but as our analysis highlighted, Ruud van Nistelrooy produced football from the Erik ten Hag playbook on Sunday afternoon.
His assertive 4-2-4 formation risked calamity but just about held its own against a surprisingly tame Chelsea.
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Ruben Amorim, watching on from Lisbon, will have noted the energy and determination – but will want to throw out pretty much everything else.
Man Utd have won only 12 points from their first 10 league games, their worst return since 1986/87 when, four games later, Ron Atkinson was replaced by Sir Alex Ferguson.
You have to go back even further to find a worse period in front of goal. United’s tally of nine goals is their fewest at this stage of a season since 1973/74, and among the least impressive in the Premier League.
Man Utd attacking stats 24/25
| Statistic | Total | PL rank |
| Goals | 9 | 18th |
|---|---|---|
| xG performance | -7.8 | 20th |
| Shot conversion | 6.4% | 19th |
| Big chance conversion | 19.0% | 20th |
To state the obvious, Amorim will take charge after the international break with Man Utd close to rock bottom. He’ll need Ferguson-like powers to lift the club back to the top.
Forest fans can start dreaming of Europe
Their biggest Premier League victory since beating Coventry City 3-0 back in August 1996 and their first day in the top three since September 1998. Nottingham Forest fans: watch it, drink it in.
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These are the best of times, the rare moments of football fandom when everything goes your way, when you dream without hesitation of the impossible.
Forest supporters, of course, have more reason to believe in miracles than most, and although nobody is pondering whether Nuno Espirito Santo is the next Brian Clough quite yet, they must at least be thinking about Europe.
West Ham United were roundly beaten to make it three wins from three for Forest and, crucially, two of those victories - both to nil - came at the City Ground, where until recently they had been struggling to replicate their away form.
How far can Forest go? With trips to the Emirates, Etihad and Old Trafford among their next five league matches, you’d think soon enough Forest will regress to the mean.
Forest's next five PL fixtures
Then again, after winning at Anfield earlier in the season, Nuno’s players really have nothing to fear. A shot at Europe is not out of the question.
Cunha excels after formation change but Wolves fall short
Wolverhampton Wanderers have not won any of their first 10 matches of a league season for only the third time, after also doing so in 1926/27 and 1983/84.
And yet there is still hope, still a general consensus Wolves are good enough - and Gary O’Neil is good enough - to get them out of trouble.
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The 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace was further evidence. On the hour-mark O’Neil made a series of tactical tweaks, moving from a 3-4-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation, and within 10 minutes Wolves had turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
The big shift was Matheus Cunha switching from left inside forward to a No 10 role, meaning he popped up in central positions. It was from here that he assisted the first goal and then, carrying the ball forward, pre-assisted the second.
Wolves first-half formation | Wolves second-half formation
Ultimately it wasn’t enough, however, as Marc Guehi’s equaliser made it seven goals conceded from set-pieces already this season, the joint-most in the Premier League.
Flaws remain. But Wolves have the quality and the tactical acumen to soon end their winless run.
Gut-punch equaliser shows Ipswich’s naivety
This was billed as a must-win game for Ipswich Town, a team yet to taste victory since promotion.
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Jordan Ayew’s equaliser in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time must surely be the most devastating, most nauseating goal conceded by any team in the Premier League this season.
It feels cruel to rub salt into the wounds, but Ayew’s goal was self-inflicted.
Down to 10 men, there is really no reason why four Ipswich players should burst ahead of the play on the counter-attack so late in the match. Doing so left gaps for Ayew and Jamie Vardy to exchange a one-two and equalise.
Ayew's equaliser v Ipswich
The teamwork here 🙌
— Leicester City (@LCFC) November 2, 2024
Jordan Ayew equalises late in #IPSLEI ⚽ pic.twitter.com/Fyycm65c1W
Kieran McKenna’s side showed a naivety in this moment that cost them dearly, although they will feel aggrieved about a 10-second spell that went against them, first Conor Chaplin going down in the box under a heavy challenge and then Kalvin Phillips receiving a second yellow for a foul.
But the fact remains - even after those decisions, Ipswich would have held on if they’d shown more restraint in the final minutes.
Pivotal 25 seconds could save Southampton’s season
A flurry of activity went against Ipswich at Portman Road, but at St Mary’s Stadium, the promoted side benefited from a stroke of fortune that could be season-defining for Southampton.
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With the goal gaping, Beto’s free header hit the bar. Just 25 seconds later, Adam Armstrong was scoring an 85th-minute winner for Russell Martin's Saints.
Crossbar ➡️ counter ➡️ CARNAGE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/z6XzBQA3su
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) November 2, 2024
Everton recorded twice the xG (1.56 to 0.74) of their opponents and almost double as many shots (16 to nine), but for Sean Dyche it was a case of old goalscoring problems returning.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, replaced by Beto after 62 minutes, is now goalless in six Premier League matches.
He would have been confident to finish that Beto chance himself - but Dyche can’t be blamed for thinking he needed to swap his strikers around after another disappointing first hour for the Everton No 9.
