Arsenal return to Wembley on Saturday to face Liverpool in the Community Shield final.
Mikel Arteta’s FA Cup winners will take on Premier League champions Jurgen Klopp just six weeks after their last match in the Emirates, where Arsenal secured an impressive 2-1 win.
The big fixture is set to be a huge test for the Gunners who have only played a pre-season friendly so far, a 2-1 win over MK Dons on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Liverpool are preparing for the new season in Austria where they played two games against Stuttgart, winning 3-0 and RB Salzburg, drawing 2-2.
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While the Community Shield isn’t necessarily considered one of the main trophies, it does give attendees the opportunity to start their season with a silver piece, so there’s no doubt that both sides will want to secure victory on the day.
From Arsenal’s point of view, the key to victory may be in their ability to force Liverpool to make defensive mistakes, as they did in the meeting between the two teams in mid-July.
Klopp’s side have been one of the best in Europe for most of the past two years and, as a result, many teams change their tactical set-up to try to nullify the threat posed by the Premier League champions. Liverpool opponents do this by sitting in low block formations, putting many men between Liverpool players in possession and their own goal.
This means Liverpool’s midfielders and deep defenders will usually be able to take possession of the ball without opposition, giving them time to raise their heads and choose the next passing option.
Against Arsenal in July, it cannot be denied that Liverpool enjoyed territorial dominance and plenty of possession. However, Arteta’s men did a great job of catching moments when they crush the visitor’s rear, forcing crucial mistakes that led to both deciding goals.
Had they all gone out in terms of pressing, Liverpool would have been more aware of the risks and perhaps would have changed their approach to passing. Furthermore, Arteta’s side would then be forced to open up defensively and vulnerable to Liverpool’s offensive threat.
We see in the following PPDA timing chart from that match how Arsenal started relaxed in their pressing approach in the early stages before increasing the press as they scored both goals. Then they relaxed the same way after they most likely tried to protect their lead.
The benefits of this strategy are outlined below. Although Arsenal players are positioned high up on the pitch, they are exerting very little pressure on the ball at this stage. This lures Liverpool players into a false sense of security in possession of the ball.
Note the body language of Virgil Van Dijk, he is standing and motionless, abiding undisputed in possession and waiting for the movement of the player in front of him.
He plays the ball to Fabinho who returns it to him. At this point, Reiss Nelson drives to Van Dijk to press him. Despite the imminent threat, the Dutch defender seems indifferent and avoids approaching the ball and waiting for it to arrive.
This allows Nelson to force Van Dijk into a panicked rebel pass that sets Alexandre Lacazette to catch the ball around Alisson and score the equalizer.
It was a similar story for the second goal, with Lacazette intercepting a missed pass from Alisson to set Nelson to give Arsenal the lead.
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While it can be argued that this has been a bit of a tired day for Liverpool defense, it is worth noting that they conceded a similar goal against Salzburg earlier this week after Fabinho was pressed and taken in. possession in Liverpool’s defensive third.
Although it is only a friendly, the above indicates that this form of selective pressing could again be a successful method of creating high-quality chances against Liverpool on Saturday.
Provided Arteta’s teams can stay strong in defense and convert the chances they create using the above tactic, then they could have their first silver piece this season in the bag before the new Premier League campaign is even started.
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