While so many Arsenal hearts and minds will already be dreaming of a Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain next week, Mikel Arteta knows he cannot afford to look past Crystal Palace – and nor will he want to.
Victory will postpone Liverpool’s title celebrations but, more than anything, it gives Arteta one final chance to solve to his toughest selection dilemmas ahead of the biggest night in his managerial career and of Arsenal’s recent history.
Preparing for the counter kings
Few sides are as devastating on the counter-attack as PSG. The French side needed just four passes in their second leg against Aston Villa to go from one penalty area to the other for rampaging full-back Nuno Mendes to put the visitors 2-0 up on the night.
Palace may not carry the same glamour, nor set up in the same system, but there are still similarities between the two for Arteta to use as a handy dress run for net week.
Oliver Glasner’s side sit in the top six for what statisticians Opta call ‘fast breaks’ in the Premier League this season and only Liverpool, Newcastle and Villa have had more shots from them in a single match than Glasner’s side managed against Villa themselves in February.
Mikel Arteta will be fully focused on ensuring Arsenal do not suffer defeat at Crystal Palace
French champions Paris Saint-Germain wait in their Champions League semi-final next week
Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace may prove to be a useful opponent ahead of the PSG clash
Arteta must find a way to nullify two teams that use width and runners from deep to get five players into the attacking third. For Palace, that comes from the wing-backs Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell while Eberechi Eze and Ismaili Sarr burst through the middle.
For PSG, that width comes through wingers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, with full-back Achraf Hakimi offering even bombing down the right. Their runners into the channels come from midfield or, as for their crucial third goal in the first leg, from the marauding Mendes.
Arsenal are one of the best in the business at defending against teams who attack so freely – only Liverpool conceded fewer goals from fast breaks this season and they haven’t lost to a traditional ‘Big Six’ team in the league for nearly two years.
So much of this comes from one key area in which Arteta now needs to find a solution.
Paris Saint-Germain’s shape for third goal against Aston Villa in leg one saw five in attack
Crystal Palace’s shape earlier in the season also had five players committed to attacking the opposition
Merino into midfield again?
Declan Rice was furious when Thomas Partey’s late yellow against Real Madrid ruled him out of the first leg through suspension. Without him, Arsenal lose their key midfield disruptor.
Partey was won more duels and more interceptions than any other Arsenal player in the league this season while Rice and William Saliba have recovered possession more often.
Without him in front of the Arsenal back line, Arteta needs to find another way to suffocate PSG’s attack but while not also stifling his own.
‘We have to make certain adjustments, not because of PSG but because of the situation we had with Thomas and a few other players,’ said Arteta. ‘That’s good because the team shows adaptability, versatility for certain players to play in different positions.’
Arteta gave it a whirl at Ipswich by moving Rice to the base of the midfield, something he rarely does because Rice is at his best when carrying the ball forward.
This meant moving makeshift front man Mikel Merino back into the engine room. Merino has been a revelation playing as a false nine in the absence of Kai Havertz, scoring six and setting up another four, including both of Arsenal’s goals in their famous night in the Bernabeu.
But Merino, a box-to-box midfielder when not moonlighting as a striker, is a duel monster. He wins more per game than any other Arsenal player, even Partey. That will be vital against PSG.
Having Merino there allows Rice to be more productive, even from the base of midfield, because of how deep he likes to drop.
Mikel Merino may return to Arsenal’s midfield amid the loss of Thomas Partey due to suspension for the PSG tie
Arsenal average positions against Real Madrid in the second leg at the Bernabeu (Rice 41, Merino 23)
Arsenal average positions against Ipswich (Rice 41, Merino 23, Trossard 19, Odegaard 8, all drifting right)
Merino’s average position against Real Madrid when playing as a striker was deeper than when he started in midfield against Ipswich. The quality of the 10-man opposition counts for some of that but, in both games, Rice’s average position was further ahead of him. Rice had 94 touches against Ipswich, the second-most he’s had in the league all season.
It also allowed Arteta to start Leandro Trossard up front instead and he was able to stay high while Merino dropped in. His brace further suggested he could lead against PSG with Wednesday another chance to prove his worth against Palace.
Has White done enough?
The Ipswich victory was the first time since November that Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White started a Premier League game together – and you could see what they have missed.
Until Saka’s injury in December, with White also out for a lot of that time, nearly half of Arsenal’s chances created came down the right. In his absence, it’s been less than a third.
The Gunners bullied Ipswich down that side as all three linked up superbly. Odegaard and White touched the ball more than anyone else and in only one match against Leicester earlier in the season did two Arsenal players create more chances combined than the five each from Odegaard and Saka managed at the weekend.
Trossard drifted to that side to help overload Ipswich even more but it was White’s performance, overlapping frequently down the right, and finding Gabriel Martinelli with a raking cross-field pass inside five minutes that showed how his attacking instincts add an extra dimension to Arsenal’s play.
Arsenal’s right will likely hold the key against PSG, as it did Real Madrid. Saka will hope to give Mendes the same sleepless nights he did to Madrid left-back Daniel Alaba.
The Ipswich victory was the first time since November that Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White (pictured) started a Premier League game together
Ben White’s touch map during Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Ipswich on Sunday (courtesy of Opta)
This, though, is the balance Arteta must weigh. Jurrien Timber has been a rock at right-back in White’s absence. He had one of the world’s most dangerous attackers Vinicius Jnr on lockdown in the quarter-final, who completed just one of his nine dribble attempts over the two legs.
Timber has been dribbled past just nine times in more than 2,300 minutes of league action this term. Players have gone past White 14 times in 854 minutes.
The sight of PSG winger Kvaratskhelia driving past Villa’s defence with the ball of his feet and smashing it into the top corner will surely be in Arteta’s mind.
No one has attempted more dribbles for Palace than their left wing-back Munoz, who will provide one last test. This is Arteta’s final chance to make sure he’s got it right.
