Man Utd vs Arsenal: Tactical Match Preview

3. Midfield Domination

United V Arsenal Midfield In the modern elite game a general rule of thumb is that if a side can control the middle of the park, they have a serious advantage and are often more likely to come out on top unless they come up against a well organised team that efficiently exploit them on the counter attack. Expect Arsenal to dominate the midfield areas again, just as they did in the last encounter between the two sides at the Emirates. The diagram displays the midfield superiority the Gunners could achieve if the predicted lineups become reality. Van Gaal will hope that utilising Daley Blind and Michael Carrick as a double pivot will secure the midfield and allow his attack minded players creative freedom. Although this may be the case due to both players being defensively savvy and excellent readers of the game, they have potential to be completely overrun in midfield if United don't get their marking spot on. The BBC's graphic in their live coverage tonight will suggest that Arsenal will lineup in a 4-3-3 formation but expect both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to drop into pockets of space in the midfield to create a superiority of numbers. This is exactly what they achieved in the game at the Emirates with Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain cutting in from their wings to join Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield to overrun Carrick and Fellaini. This approach had results in terms of statistics with the Gunners boasting 61% possession and taking 11 more shots than United during the course of the game. There is potential for this to happen again and Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey and Cazorla could quite easily dominate Blind and Carrick. For United to combat this, Angel Di Maria and Ashley Young are going to have to track back superbly against Bellerin and Gibbs in order to free up Rojo and Valencia to pick up Sanchez and Ozil when appropriate. Alternatively Van Gaal may decide to revert back to the 4-1-3-2 in order to narrow the midfield to address Arsenal's domination.
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