Arsenal v Huddersfield Town; Can the Gunners Get Number 21?

Arsenal return home for their third match in 6 days after facing off against United in the midweek and North London rivals, Tottenham this past Sunday. Some will look at Saturday’s opponent, Huddersfield Town and think they are in for a bit of respite given the form of the visitors, that would be a mistake.

In the midweek, Arsenal looked tired and sluggish and injuries took their toll on the team, seeing Rob Holding go off with an ACL injury and Aaron Ramsey a slight ankle knock. Add into that Lucas Torreira looking fatigued and this could be a match that causes Arsenal more problems than you think.

Huddersfield set up

Everyone is well aware that David Wagner is an acolyte (friend) of Jurgen Klopp and there is no secret to the fact that Wagner’s Huddersfield side try and emulate his friend’s style of play. They play with an intense press in either a 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1 or 5-3-1-1 (against the top 6) and it allows them to apply pressure without leaving too much space open for the opposition to exploit.

Against Liverpool earlier this year, they opted for an aggressive man-marking system, trying to take away the scouser’s ability to build-up from the back. Wagner went man-to-man defending looking to create a series of 1v1 situations that disrupted Liverpool’s passing rhythm.

This is a team with heart that absolutely loves to player for their manager. And their style of play won’t be compromised. They are well coached, and each player knows their role and they’ve shown a penchant for sacrificing themselves for the good of the team.

This is a team that last season ranked near the top of defensive action stats, making a huge amount of tackles and interceptions and blocking a high number of passes. This a no-nonsense team when it comes to defending.

Their efforts resulted in a rather boring 1-0 win by Liverpool. In the end Liverpool’s talent level was too much for Huddersfield town but it showed that a side, well, coached, with good structure and sound principles can make life difficult for a good team team.

Exploiting the Huddersfield Set Up

 We are going to assume that Wagner employs a very similar style of play for us as he did for Liverpool. He’s going to want to make the ability to pass out of the back difficult for us.

While Wagner’s team looked extremely strong in the man to man situations, they created against Liverpool they lacked any sense of compactness between the midfield and defensive lines. Perfect for someone to float into and win balls for easy distribution.

Our midfielders like to come in deep to receive the ball from the centerbacks or wide forwards. If Wagner employs man-to-man marking that is going to leave space in the middle especially if our forwards stay up top to occupy the Huddersfield back line (like they did against Tottenham. The net effect is wide open space to take advantage of.

Additionally, Liverpool began to use switching and diagonal balls to break the press and create overloads to one side. Looking back to the Tottenham match we were effective in moving the ball to the opposite side either through a big switch or a quick exchange from wingback to midfielder to wingback – depending on the tactical situation.

Of course, Emery’s tactical set up will depend on the players he does have available. Can he maintain 3 at the back without Holding? Monreal returned to full practice but it seems a little soon to throw him in to a back 3 right away. Another option would be to drop Elneny in to that role?

Additionally, with the space that Huddersfield Town will likely have to play in between the lines, it seems a perfect time for Özil to come back into the squad, but is he fit or is the relationship with Emery beyond repair?

We may be on a run of 20 games unbeaten, but with each match questions grow and they will test a manager who hasn’t really placed a foot wrong so far.

Conclusion

Coming home to the Emirates should give Arsenal an advantage in this match as they’ve continued to make it an absolute fortress to play in. However, with fatigue mounting and injuries piling up, this doesn’t look as straight forward a match as it may be.

We may be in for another win, but I think it will be one that looks a lot harder than it should be.

Players to Watch

Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette. With Aubameyang showing some levels of fatigue, the French striker, can be the hero of the hour and extend Arsenal’s run.

Huddersfield Town: Matthias  Jorgenson. Leads all Huddersfield Town players with 2 goals and 1 assist.

Probable Lineups

Arsenal 3-4-3 v Huddersfield Town 3-5-1-1

Injuries And Suspensions

Arsenal: Özil (back spasm), Monreal (hamstring), Mavropanos (groin), Welbeck (knee), Holding (ACL)

 Huddersfield Town: Sabiri (collar bone), Kongolo (knock), Lowe (shoulder)

Form (Last 5)

Arsenal: DDWWD

Huddersfield Town: WDWLL

Goals Scored Per Match

Arsenal 2.00 (home average)

Huddersfield Town 1 (away average)

Goals Conceded Per Match

Arsenal 1.00 (home average)

Huddersfield Town: 2.29 (away average)

From the Manager (Courtesy Arsenal.com)

 I’ve learnt in the Premier League that every team has good players, good organisation, good possibilities in the 90 minutes against every team. On Saturday, the first thing is a very big respect, more than Manchester United, more than Tottenham, because we need a high level in our performance to win against them. At the beginning, sure we need a high level individually and collectively. I told you at the beginning of this press conference, on Tuesday against Bournemouth, they played a very good match. Also they won at [Wolves] in the last match away. On Saturday, they are going to push a lot and [will want] a surprise. We are very convinced in our way – work, prepare, respect, push with our supporters at the Emirates and feel the spirit with them.

 Match Officials

Referee: Paul Tierney (10M 35Y 0R)
Assistants: Simon Beck, Mick McDonough
Fourth official: Stuart Attwell

Broadcast Information

UK: Highlights Only MOTD/Audio Arsenal.com 15.00 GMT

US: CNBC 10:00AM EST

Match Facts (Courtesy BBC.co.uk)

 Arsenal are unbeaten in 10 games against Huddersfield, winning eight and drawing two.

• The Gunners won both league meetings last season, including 5-0 at the Emirates.
• Huddersfield have lost eight of their last nine top-flight matches against Arsenal and failed to score in each defeat.
• The Terriers’ last victory at Arsenal was by 5-3 at Highbury in November 1954.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions, winning 15 of them. It’s their longest run without defeat since a 28-game streak in November 2007.
• The Gunners have won 16 of their past 17 Premier League games played at 3pm on a Saturday, including each of the last nine.
• Unai Emery’s side are yet to lead at half-time in a league fixture this season.
• They have scored an unrivalled 25 second-half goals, three more than Manchester City.
• Arsenal have also won a league-high 12 points from losing positions in 2018-19.
• The Gunners have scored in 14 successive league matches and conceded in eight straight games.