Why Arsenal should revert to 5-at-the-back against Chelsea

After a blunt, shambolic performance against Brentford, change is needed for Arsenal. And up next, is the small matter of playing Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. I, along with most Arsenal fans, are fearing the worst ahead of this particular London derby. But Arsenal are faced with some strange circumstances at the moment. Players Gabriel, Partey and Nketiah will all miss the game through injury, and both senior strikers Alex Lacazette and Aubameyang are doubtful with illness.

So with these circumstances, and the players that are available to Arsenal at the moment, a change in formation might do Arsenal good in this weekend’s clash. And one potential tactical change, could be Arsenal reverting to the 5-at-the-back system, previously used by Mikel Arteta during project restart in the summer of 2020, which culminated in our 14th FA Cup win. Here’s why Arsenal should return to this system.

It suits the personnel

Arsenal used a back 4 of Tierney, Mari, White and Chambers in the season opener against Brentford. That whole back 4, except Tierney, played poorly, and struggled to cope with Brentford attackers Mbeumo and Toney. This is concerning, as this could quite possibly be the back 4 Arsenal lineup with against Chelsea, given the lack of other options. But my opinion is that Mari and Chambers should not be starting in the game against Chelsea. So the question is, how do we replace them.

Mari takes up the left hand side centre-half position. The only other left-footed player for that position, is Gabriel Magalhaes – who is injured. There is a case to be made for Rob Holding to start there, but it is not his natural side.

Calum Chambers operated at right-back. Other options in that position, such as Bellerin and Cedric, are very underwhelming too, so Arsenal are left with two positions to fill.

Playing a 5-at-the-back would suit the defenders available to us. Ainsley Maitland-Niles has done a great job at right wing-back for us in the past, so he can play there. Kiernan Tierney and Rob Holding could operate either side of Ben White, who thrived for Brighton last year, in the middle of a back-3. And finally, Bukayo Saka could fill in at left wing-back, which is not his best position, but allows us to field an extra attacking player.

It has worked before, it can work again

As I mentioned, this system has worked before in our marvellous FA cup run in 2020. In fact, we used this system to play our next opponents, Chelsea, in the cup final. In that particular match, centre-halves Holding, Luiz and Tierney has to deal with Mount, Pulisic and Giroud. You can see the parallels with this weekend’s match. White and Luiz are similar players, who like to step forward in a back-3. And if we assume that Chelsea’s front 3 will be Mount, Havertz and Lukaku, Lukaku and Giroud offer a similar physical and aerial threat, while Mount and Pulisic offer the same directness and technical ability on the ball. 

This back-5 also worked particularly well to keep out a Man City attack consisting of Mahrez, Sterling, David Silva, Jesus and De Bruyne in the semi-final. In that game, Arsenal scored a magnificent team goal, playing through the Man City press, something Arsenal’s back-4 of late have struggled to do with any confidence at all. Maybe an extra man in the back line could improve Arsenal’s play under pressure?

Matching Tuchel’s system

Our opponents on Sunday also use this back-5 system. With centre-half options such as Rudiger, Chalobah, Christensen and Zouma, Arsenal can expect a very physical and solid backline. While with wing-back options such as Chilwell, Alonso, James or Azpilicueta, Arsenal can expect to face pacy, attacking-minded wide players. So it makes sense to have our own wing-backs to combat this threat. If Arsenal simply play a back-4, like against Brentford, we can expect overloads on the wing. And in particular, I do not fancy Calum Chambers’ chances against both Havertz and Chilwell, and likewise with Mount and James on the other side.

This does leave Ben White with the horrible job of dealing with Romelu Lukaku. However, the two centre-halves either side of White, can take some of the pressure off our new signing, and assigning three defenders rather than two to deal with one of the best strikers in the world makes a lot of sense.

Meanwhile, in midfield, we could see an interesting duel between Xhaka and Lokonga and two of Jorginho, Kante or Kovacic. While I don’t particularly rate Arsenal’s chances of bossing that midfield, Ben White could also step in to provide an extra man in defence, or Smith Rowe could also move more centrally and deeper to add an extra man.

My ideal starting XI for Chelsea

So as you can tell, I would definitely opt for 5-at-the-back if I was picking the team for this weekend. So here is who else I would pick:

Goalkeeper – Leno – The only good goalkeeping option we have at the moment

Left wing-back – Saka – This is probably not his best position, but this still gives Saka a license to get forward, and also offers an extra man in defence.

Left centre-back – Tierney – Although it might be nice to have a player like Tierney bombing down the wings, he is a very capable defender. We’ve seen him play this role before and I have no doubt he is better than Pablo Mari.

Centre-back – White – We know that his strength is playing in the middle of a back-3

Right centre-back – Holding – Is a better defender than Mari and Chambers

Right wing-back – Maitland-Niles – None of our right-back options really excite me. However, Maitland-Niles has played at wing-back very well before, so I’d like to see him do it again.

Central midfielder – Xhaka – The back-5 could take pressure off him. He is the only midfield option available.

Central midfielder – Lokonga – Had a very promising debut against Brentford and is the only midfield option too.

Left winger – Smith Rowe – Can always drift centrally, but was by far our best player against Brentford.

Centre-forward – Martinelli – Assuming Lacazette and Auba are ill, he is the best forward available to us. If one of the senior strikers is fit, they should start over Martinelli.

Right winger – Pepe – Wasn’t great against Brentford, but is capable of scoring out of nothing. Has combined well with Maitland-Niles in the past, and is our best available winger.

Let me know in the comments if you would make any changes to my starting XI. Also let me know if you think changing to a back-5 is the best move. We’ll have to wait and see if Mikel Arteta listens to me, but nonetheless let’s hope Arsenal can produce a result in the London derby this weekend.