Breaking down how Arsenal lost to Chelsea

Arsenal’s second Premier League game of the season ended in disappointment as the Gunners slipped to another 2-0 defeat, this time to London rivals Chelsea.

Romelu Lukaku and Reece James both got on the scoresheet in a first half that saw Arsenal thoroughly outplayed on their home turf.

The Gunners were without a whopping nine first-team players for the fixture against last season’s Champions League winners, with Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White, Thomas Partey, Alexandre Lacazette and new signing Martin Odegaard among the absentees. Runar Alex Runarsson, Willian and Eddie Nketiah were also out, but the trio were unlikely to have started the contest even if they had been fit.

Arsenal’s personnel issues certainly did not help manager Mikel Arteta, although questions can be asked of the Spaniard’s choice of system to face the Blues.

The Gunners lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, while Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel set his side out in a slightly modified 3-4-2-1 and the German’s tactical set-up proved effective at stretching Arsenal’s back line horizontally, particularly in the first half.

Chelsea’s wing-backs frequently bombed forward and created overloads in the Arsenal third – reminiscent of Germany’s 4-2 win over Portugal in the group stages of Euro 2020 this summer. 

James in particular found plenty of joy down the Arsenal left and finished the game with a goal and an assist to his name. He also led his team for crosses (nine), shot-creating actions (seven), progressive carries (seven, level with Lukaku), and progressive distance carried (157 yards), demonstrating his propensity to drive into space with the ball before delivering a threatening cross.

However, Tuchel’s use of Lukaku, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz in creating room for the right wing-back to operate in should not be overlooked.

The Blues boss tweaked his usual 3-4-2-1 system slightly, pushing Havertz slightly higher and more central alongside Lukaku, while Mount took up a narrow position on the right. Havertz pinned Arsenal’s right-sided centre-half Rob Holding with his presence and movement and Mount occupied Kieran Tierney, allowing Lukaku to isolate and target the left-sided Pablo Mari to great effect.

Lukaku, making his second Chelsea debut after rejoining the London club from Inter this summer in a deal reportedly worth around €115 million, gave Blues fans a glimpse of the quality they can expect this season with a scintillating display.

The Belgian was too quick, too strong and too clever for Mari, particularly in the first half. Lukaku would often drop off the front line to receive the ball with his back to goal, easily holding off the challenges of Mari, who frequently got sucked out of his defensive line to challenge the Chelsea striker. 

Once he had received the ball, Lukaku would deftly bring his team-mates into play with short passes or switch the ball out into an overlapping wing-back before making a sharp run into the box through the space Mari had vacated, with the Spaniard too slow and too weak to stop the Belgian – as was the case for the striker’s opening goal after 15 minutes.

The success Lukaku enjoyed against Mari also had a knock-on effect on the rest of the team. In Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1, Bukayo Saka – playing as a left winger – was responsible for closing down Chelsea’s right-sided centre-back Cesar Azpilicuta, while Tierney was given the job of dealing with James’ marauding runs forward.

However, the frequency with which Lukaku got beyond Mari and into a dangerous position coupled with Mount’s narrow position on the right saw the Scottish left-back often get caught in no-man’s land (as seen in the images above) – torn between helping Mari double-up on Lukaku and marking Mount. This, in turn, created a gaping expanse of space on the Chelsea right, which James exploited ruthlessly, firing in the second after 35 minutes following his assist for Lukaku’s opener.

A potential solution to this problem would have been a change of shape for Arsenal. Utilising the 3-4-2-1 formation that featured regularly earlier in Arteta’s tenure would have given the Gunners an extra central defender to deal with Chelsea’s forwards, whilst the left wing-back could have denied James the space he was afforded.

Even without a change of personnel, this would have been possible. Tierney could have tucked in as a left-sided centre-back, with Saka dropping into the left wing-back role and Emile Smith Rowe shifting out wide to take Saka’s place on the left wing.

It is possible that Arteta’s thinking behind sticking with the 4-2-3-1 was to press Chelsea higher up, using the extra man in forward areas to stifle the Blues’ build-up and provide a greater attacking threat between the lines when the Gunners had the ball.

However, Arsenal’s pressing in the first half lacked intensity and was easy to play out of, simply leaving the Gunners exposed at the back once the press was beaten, with too many men ending up on the wrong side of the ball.

The Gunners stabilised in the second half, showing greater aggression and organisation off the ball and were a threat on the counter at times, but it was too little, too late from Arsenal.

The absences of so many starting-quality Arsenal squad members was always going to be keenly felt against a Chelsea side who have just bolstered their Champions League-winning side with an elite striker in Lukaku, and that factor certainly played its part in the Gunners’ poor performance at the Emirates Stadium.

However, Arteta did lose the tactical battle to Tuchel and his failure to adapt in time also played a significant part in the result. There will be better games to judge the progress of Arteta’s Arsenal project than this, but the Spaniard must take his share of the blame for the defeat.