MANCHESTER UNITED travel to North London to take on Arsenal in what is undoubtedly the most talked-about match in the FA Cup third round.
With United coming into this match on the back of a promising and perhaps surprising 2-2 draw against league leaders Liverpool last weekend.
And with Arsenal losing their Carabao Cup semi-final 2-0 at home to Newcastle in midweek, both sides find themselves at an interesting point in this match.
From a tactical perspective, we know exactly what to expect from both teams.
Arsenal will employ a loose 4-3-3 system with captain Martin Odegaard, offering the freedom to move into more advanced positions.
However, the loss to injury of Bukayo Saka was a major blow to Mikel Arteta's side, making their attack much less effective.
United, on the other hand, will play in the 3-4-3 shape (or more accurately 3-4-2-1) that we have seen since Amorim joined the club.
United's performance against Liverpool, which showed some tactical variation, gives an idea of how they will play at the Emirates next weekend.
Press high and often
One of the most striking traits we saw from United against Liverpool was their willingness to be aggressive out of possession.
They pressed high and often as the Reds looked to build their attacks.
This was actually a very smart choice by Amorim and his coaching staff, as United wanted to force Liverpool to attack quickly in wide areas.
They achieved this by pressing from the inside out from closer positions.
Given the tactical systems the two played, 4-3-3 versus 3-4-2-1, Liverpool would have had a natural 3v2 advantage in midfield, with Ryan Gravenberch typically being the deepest midfield player, where he would have been the starting player. free man.
By quickly pressuring Liverpool and forcing them to play outside, United seemed to quickly take away that advantage when Liverpool attacked.
We see the United Press here. Manuel Ugarte steps up in midfield to replace Alexis MacAllister and United's two attacking midfielders and forward are ready to pressure any attempt at a short Liverpool pass-out.
While United pressed Liverpool's build-up, they were also able to jump out and press the ball when Liverpool had possession deep in their own half.
The front three of Rasmus Hojlund, Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo were constantly looking for ways to apply pressure and force an error or a long ball from Liverpool.
This kind of pressing that forces the opposition into areas where you feel more comfortable would also work well against Arsenal.
Although players like Gabriel and William Saliba are comfortable at Arsenal, they are less effective when forced to play quickly.
Against Arsenal we will likely see United continue to force the opposition to attack early on the outside of the pitch.
This will be especially effective against this Arsenal side, with the likes of Trossard playing from the right side of the attack, as opposed to Bukayo Saka.
Here we see Bruno Fernandes taking the front foot and trying to jump higher to put pressure on the ball as Liverpool are locked into the full-back position.
The freedom of the two attacking midfielders to jump high is aided by the fact that they have two full-backs and two deeper midfielders behind them to provide support.
We think we will see United play aggressively and out of possession against Arsenal.
They will try to force mistakes from Arsenal early and in their own half.
Attacking with pace on the counter
The term transitions has been used more and more in football in recent years and Ruben Amorim is a real coach who wants his team to be effective in these transition moments.
This means that when his team loses possession and transitions from attack to defense, he wants them to be aggressive in pushing to try and get the ball back.
However, it also means that when they regain possession, they will be aggressive in their attacking transition as they want to attack quickly and quickly.
We clearly saw United's speed and aggressive nature on the counter-attack in this match against Liverpool.
United were happy to sit deeper and defend when they were in the more established defensive phase.
But as soon as there was an opportunity to jump forward and attack, we saw United quickly spring into action.
They were particularly effective at pinning down the Liverpool full-backs, with the attacking midfielders and the full-backs working together to overload the Liverpool full-backs on either side.
In this example, United have regained possession with Bruno Fernandes in possession on the near side.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is isolated and drawn in and the pass can be played to release the runner up front in the wide area.
This results in United pushing players forward at speed to attack Liverpool's backline.
Arsenal under Arteta are likely to be more cautious in their approach to building attack than we saw Liverpool in last weekend's match.
Arteta likes Arsenal to be slower and more methodical in building their attack, but this doesn't mean there won't be spaces for United to take advantage of on the counter-attack.
However, this does not mean that United cannot be effective in transition and on the counter-attack against Arsenal.
The North London side tend to want to control possession, but when they move the ball high and wide they leave spaces for United to take advantage of.
This example is from late in the game against Liverpool and Amad takes possession deep in his own half.
In this situation, Amad drives forward, but it is also noticeable that he receives support from Hojlund and Garnacho, among others, to be able to act quickly and support the counter-attack.
Targeted attacks along the left side
Against Liverpool we saw United develop a clear preference for attacking from the left side of the pitch and we believe this is something we will see again this weekend against Arsenal.
With Lisandro Martinez advancing the ball from the central defensive position on the left and Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes receiving and linking play effectively, this strategy had clear advantages for United in this match.
You could argue that United tried to target Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back for Liverpool, but in our view this was a clear plan regardless of who Liverpool played on that side.
This means that Amad Diallo had space at the other end to attack the area with runs on the other side of the ball to further emphasize the opponent's defensive line.
These runs at the other end, combined with the passing and progression on the left, will be effective in putting pressure on Arsenal's defensive system.
United were effective in building up the left because of Fernandes' movement and intelligence.
Here Dalot has gained possession and has room to move forward.
Alexander-Arnold cannot move higher to intervene as Fernandes has crossed and trapped Liverpool in that position.
When building play on the left, it should come as no surprise that United would opt to move on from Dalot or Martinez for longer to free up Hojlund's points as the main striker.
The Danish striker is naturally left-footed and therefore tends to position himself in the channels on that side of the pitch.
Any long ball into the channels here will force William Saliba to defend 1v1 against the mighty Hojlund.
Arsenal are more defensively solid than Liverpool, but United's tendency to overload the left side and mix their approach between short combinations and longer passes will put pressure on Arsenal's defense and allow United to create chances.
Here we see a moment where Alexander-Arnold is too deep, but United can take advantage of the space.
We see that Dalot and Fernandes have moved high and Gravenberch has moved wide to follow Fernandes.
This takes away the central cover and the long ball into the channel frees Hojlund, who has bent his run.
It will be interesting to see if Arteta adjusts his normal approach defensively to take into account the fact that United will be concentrating on that side of the pitch.
There is no doubt that the 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield will have given United confidence going into this match against Arsenal.
We think they will remain aggressive both in and out of possession and will look for ways to attack and unbalance Arsenal's defensive line.
A win in this FA Cup match could be the start of a strong run for United.
Comments