Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
ARS: Wimmer (og) 42’; TOT: Kane (pen) 51’
Man of the match: Mousa Dembele (Tottenham)
It is the formation in fashion.
Chelsea, the Premier League leaders heading into Sunday's action, have won all five of their top-flight games without conceding a goal since Antonio Conte ditched his 4-1-4-1 setup in favour of a 3-4-2-1. Pep Guardiola has also employed a variation of the system at Manchester City this season, so too Slaven Bilic at West Ham United.
It was the turn of Mauricio Pochettino this weekend. Tottenham Hotspur, without a victory in their last six outings in all competitions, ditched their customary 4-2-3-1 and lined up with three at the back for their trip to the Emirates Stadium to face north London rivals Arsenal.
Also see
• In pictures: Harry Kane back on scoresheet as Spurs steal point from Arsenal
• Premier League results: Harry Kane scores in return from injury for Spurs
It was a bold move. Pochettino’s Tottenham had only ever fielded three central defenders once before, in a 2-1 win over Watford last term. Something needed to change given their recent struggles, but there was little indication as to how well the switch would work before kick-off.
After a 1-1 draw in which his team halted a previously rampant Arsenal attack for long periods, Pochettino will have been delighted with how his players stood up to the challenge.
Tottenham began the stronger of the two teams, with the extra passing option provided by a three-man backline of Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer – who was making his first league start of the campaign as the central member of the trio – aiding their build-up play.
Arsenal pressed high in an attempt to pinch possession in advanced areas, but the visitors did well to either feed the ball into midfield or knock long passes in behind their opponents’ defence, which in turn allowed them to squeeze up the pitch and compress the play.
Kyle Walker and Danny Rose took up higher starting positions than usual as a result of their wing-back duties, with Pochettino probably concerned that the duo may have been pinned back by Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott had they been playing in a defensive four.
Further forward, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen roamed across the final third – much like Pedro and Eden Hazard have done to devastating effect for Chelsea – while the returning Harry Kane acted as a focal point at the top of the pitch, even if he was rather quiet for much of the encounter.
After an assured opening half-hour, in which Tottenham controlled possession and largely nullified the hosts’ attacking threat, Arsenal began to wrestle back control. The speed of Iwobi, Walcott and Alexis Sanchez caused problems for Pochettino’s charges, particularly on the outside of the two wider centre-halves, and the opening goal was a reflection of the run of play in the preceding minutes.
Tottenham fought back in the second period, though, Mousa Dembele’s driving run drawing a penalty that was calmly converted by Kane. Arsenal saw a lot more of the ball thereafter as they pushed for a winner, but it was telling that they finished the game with only two shots on the target.
“In football today you have to be flexible,” Pochettino reflected in his post-match press conference. “You always need to adapt your system and your game.
“Football is about trying to find solutions and working hard. The most important thing is when the team show this [in their] performance and the players know what they have to do in different phases of the game.”
It will be interesting to see if Tottenham use the 3-4-2-1 going forward or whether it was a purely temporary measure for Sunday’s clash. For now, Pochettino will simply be grateful that the Premier League’s fashionable formation helped his side end their recent run of disappointing results.
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