Sporting Life
Bukayo Saka v Udogie

Alex Keble's Premier League match-ups: High lines and turnovers

By Alex Keble
Football
Sun September 24, 2023 · 1y ago
  • Alex Keble (@alexkeble) is a football journalist who specialises in tactical understanding, analysis and predictions of all aspects of the game.

Saka & Vieira vs Spurs’ inverted full-backs

Although Tottenham Hotspur have already beaten Manchester United this season that match cannot truly have been said to be a test. The Ange Postecoglou revolution is in full flow and yet Spurs have benefited from lower-quality opponents, many of which can be blown away by the surprising patterns that Tottenham’s attacking formation takes.

Arsenal, then, is the first time we will see Postecoglou’s football come up against a team capable of exploiting any spaces – and the main culprit, if there is to be one, is his use of two inverted full-backs: Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro roam infield and then make under-lapping runs to support the Spurs wingers, leaving two centre-backs to cover the width of the pitch.

What happens when Arsenal win the ball and look to counter down the wings, as they have been known to do under Mikel Arteta?

Bukayo Saka should find plenty of space behind Udogie, with the Tottenham left-back unlikely to be able to get back in time, while on the other wing Fabio Vieira – arguably Arsenal’s player of the season so far – will expect to find pockets in the half-space to release Leandro Trossard.

As we saw in the Man Utd match, Tottenham’s ‘Big Six’ games will be a lot of fun, but whether or not they can withstand the pressure of Arsenal’s front line in a basketball match remains to be seen.

It is without doubt the biggest challenge of the Postecoglou era so far, but if he adapts his tactics to fit the opposition and masterminds a win – perhaps by sitting his full-backs more conservatively – then we can start to talk about Spurs as outsiders for the title.

More likely, we will see the limits of Postecoglou’s football and Spurs will suffer their first defeat of the season, although there is a chance his hard-pressing tactics unsettle Arsenal, breaking up their rhythm and triggering the awkwardness and hesitancy that has been known to creep in at times.

Chelsea’s tangled defence vs Villa’s high line

This should be a very interesting game.

Mauricio Pochettino desperately needs a win after Chelsea failed to score against either Bournemouth or Nottingham Forest in their last two, and certainly Unai Emery’s infamous high line is a welcome break from Pochettino’s side trying to break down a low block.

But that does not necessarily make things easier for the hosts.

Aston Villa’s attack lines under Emery have become considerably more vertical since the arrival of Moussa Diaby, and given that the Villa manager studies the opponent for weaknesses he will have devised a series of moves to exploit the wide gap between Levi Colwill and Thiago Silva in the Chelsea defence.

Miscommunication or mistakes between these two players account for all three of the open-play goals Chelsea have conceded this season, and it is within this space on the right that Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, and Diaby will combine. Their directness is a serious threat that, with confidence low at Chelsea, should cause lots of problems at Stamford Bridge.

Then again, after Liverpool pumped long balls over the top of the Villa defensive line in a 3-0 win, there is a template for Pochettino to follow. Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Nicolas Jackson will all enjoy a bit more space in the transition; if Pochettino can get runners in behind, Chelsea can finally get back to goalscoring ways.

Kompany’s risks vs Ten Hag’s high turnovers

For once, Erik ten Hag’s tactical system should work.

He has endured a dreadful start to the 2023/24 campaign as injuries, an ageing central midfield, and a disorganised press act against Manchester United in almost every single match but overly-ambitious Burnley should make for accommodating opponents.

Vincent Kompany’s Burnley spread far too wide and sit far too high to function successfully at this level, and while the data is skewed by their difficult fixture list it is clear an adventurous style has undermined them.

At Turf Moor on Saturday, they will smell blood and once again go for a possession-focused style of football that looks to build out from the back and attack the United defence in high numbers.

They should create chances, but they will be open to Man Utd’s best qualities. Most obviously, the pace in United’s front line and their ongoing capacity to score counter-attacking goals will hurt Burnley’s high defensive line, just as Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur managed against the Clarets in their respective 3-1 and 5-2 wins.

But more importantly, the very locus of United’s poor form – their new high press – should finally work for the visitors.

Burnley are frequently tackled in their own half, outwitted by higher quality players and struggling to find the right patterns in their build-up play from within a 4-4-2, and so Man Utd’s pressing (they top the charts this season for high turnovers, with 59) should create a change of possession from which United’s forwards can sprint through on goal.

Burnley’s task is complicated further by the suspension of striker Lyle Foster, who has scored two of the club’s four league goals so far.

Even with United in poor form, Burnley stand little chance of improving on their own bad start; should the game descend into a disorganised end-to-end contest it's still the visitors – who scored three times in Munich in midweek – who'll come out on top.

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