Arsenal vs Wolves, Sunderland vs Newcastle & Man Utd vs Bournemouth: The Narrative.

Tactical Previews And Predictions.

Our GW16 tactical previews are for:

• Arsenal vs Wolves

•⁠ Sunderland vs Newcastle

• Man United vs Bournemouth

Arsenal vs Wolves

Mikel Arteta’s side are currently top of the Premier League by just two points after their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa last weekend, making this weekend even more important to bounce back, put bottom of the barrel Wolves to the sword and continue their charge for the title.

Arsenal look like they will be without some key players, as Cristhian Mosquera, Kai Havertz and Gabriel all remain unavailable, while Riccardo Calafiori (suspended) and Leandro Trossard (injury) will also be unavailable for the game against Wolves. William Saliba is also unlikely to feature, but Declan Rice is being assessed after missing out on the midweek game against Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Wolves are missing a number of players themselves such as Rodrigo Gomes and Marshall Munetsi, but the return of Joao Gomes in midfield will be a positive. Since Rob Edwards arrived, Wolves have been unable to shake their terrible form, currently on a nine game losing streak spreading across both managers.

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Wolves Defensive Woes

Coming off the back of their 4-1 defeat to Man United, Wolves conceded a whopping 27 shots in the match, with Ruben Amorim’s side generating 4.24 xG. Wolves have conceded 23.49 xG so far this season, actually less than both West Ham and Burnley, but in terms of actual goals conceded, Wolves are last with 33 conceded in their 15 games so far.

Teams have found it easy to exploit Wolves’ when transitioning between their defensive schemes, as they look to apply pressure on the ball in the front press, but lack the conviction in the defensive line to protect the space between the two lines of engagement.

Man United took advantage of this on a number of occasions, baiting the Wolves front press with backwards passes, before playing a vertical ball to stretch the defensive line and create a gap between their two lines of engagement (front press and defensive line).

With Wolves often caught between ideas in this moment, the defensive line had neither applied pressure on the ball to stop a forward pass OR dropped to protect the space in behind, which allowed United to release their runners such as Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount to attack the space in behind.

Arsenal Exploiting The Space

With how Arsenal use their midfield rotations to disrupt the opposition’s press, Arteta’s side could find some joy in the middle of the park, drawing Wolves’ front press onto them before finding the likes of Eze and Lewis-Skelly between the lines.

With the runners in the last line such as Gyokeres and Martinelli, Arsenal will cause Wolves plenty of problems due to the threat they pose with in behind, allowing their receivers space between the lines to turn, face forward and carry into space.

This is something Arsenal have done effectively this season, creating artificial transitions by manipulating teams with their deep rotations, before attacking the space between the lines.

Prediction: 4-0

Paid subscribers can read our Sunderland vs Newcastle and Man United vs Bournemouth previews. 👇