3. Narrow The Play
The last thing Sunderland want is Arsenal's speedy wide men to cut holes around the back of their defence to get balls into the box for Giroud to eat up. Their full-backs are arguably their weakest areas, aside from their goal-scoring record, and Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski could have a field day, even if Danny Rose has come on leaps and bounds this season. The solution is to try and narrow the play, by enticing Arsenal into the middle channels rather than out wide, where they would naturally seek to play.That means keeping their own widemen disciplined, and not roaming freely in the middle of the park - manipulating the space on the pitch to allow Arsenal more space in the centre of the park, but then closing quickly and keeping the defence protected with a deep flying defensive midfielder will frustrate Arsenal enough in the first half to make their heads drop in the second. Cattermole is a big loss in that central midfield to add some bite and contain if Sunderland can force Arsenal narrower, but they might still find their chances heightened by still going the same tactical route.