Villa vs Arsenal, Leeds vs Liverpool & Wolves vs Man Utd: The Narrative.

Tactical Previews, Line-Ups And Predictions.

Our GW15 tactical previews are for:

• Aston Villa vs Arsenal

•⁠ Leeds vs Liverpool

• Wolves vs Man United

Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Heading into this gameweek 15 tie, Arsenal currently sit top of the tree with 33 points accrued from their 14 games played so far, winning 10, drawing three and only losing once. On the other hand, you have Aston Villa who started slow, but have put together a lovely run in recent months, winning their last six games on the bounce in all competitions, catapulting themselves into third in the Premier League.

How They Could Line Up?

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The only real question mark for Aston Villa will be the inclusion of Emi Martinez, who was set to start in their 4-3 win over Brighton on Wednesday night, having to pull out at the last minute due to a back injury, meaning Marco Bizot took his place between the sticks. With a rest for the likes of Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, you would expect the pair to return for this game, with Unai Emery perhaps going for a more secure midfield three to combat Arsenal.

For Mikel Arteta, there are a few more question marks heading into this game after their 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday night, with both Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera coming off during the game due to injury troubles. Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurrien Timber were all given some rest, so all three would be expected to return to Arteta’s starting lineup against Villa.

Aston Villa Deep Build Up

Aston Villa look to build in a low 4-2 base, with both the centre-backs splitting either side of the goalkeeper, with the full-backs moving higher into the midfield line (could even be labelled a 3-4 at times with the goalkeeper usage in the first line).

Emery’s side average the most touches in their own penalty area this season (78.5 per 90), looking to bait the opposition press forwards in order to create fast vertical passing options between the lines, generating artificial transitions.

The ability to receive under pressure in the middle of the pitch without instantly releasing the ball allows Villa to drag the opposition’s midfield higher, leaving space behind to exploit. This “pausa” and press resistance from the likes of Boubacar Kamara especially are vital, giving players like Morgan Rogers enough space to receive between the lines, face forward and carry with momentum.

Arsenal Pressing Schemes

How Arsenal choose to press in these moments will be key, as one way we have seen recently deployed by Arteta is the usage of jumps on one side of the pitch, with Gabriel Martinelli (LW) for example pressing the opposition right centre-back, which triggers Ricardo Calafiori (LB) to jump onto the opposition right-back, which then triggers Piero Hincapie (LCB) to shuffle over and manage the opposition right-winger.

With Martin Zubimendi as the deepest midfielder, he is often tasked with picking up the nominal number 10, leaving Rice on that left side with a hybrid role, and Mikel Merino (ST) tasked with one of the opposition defensive midfielders.

If Rice is out, Arteta could look to flip the dynamics of this press slightly, in order to protect the spare pocket player in the middle of the pitch of Aston Villa. This would be a slightly more passive approach, looking to protect the space centrally and force Villa wide or long.

Bukayo Saka would instead be tasked with jumping onto the Aston Villa left centre-back, giving Ben White or Jurrien Timber the job of jumping onto the Aston Villa left-back. If Merino was to drop back and take Rice’s role in midfield, his ground covering quality isn’t as strong, which could cost Arsenal if Villa can manipulate their front press and find the spare man.

Therefore, by having one of the front two in the press (Viktor Gyokeres or Saka) and Eze (RCM) covering the pivot, it would make it more difficult for Villa to play their way through the Arsenal pressing shape despite it being with a -1, instead keeping the +1 in the last line (3v2).

Prediction: 1-1

Paid subscribers can read our Leeds vs Liverpool and Wolves vs Man United previews. 👇