ARSENAL proved why they are the reigning Premier League champions by producing a tactical masterclass in their win over Chelsea.
Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard sealed a stunning comeback after Morgan Rogers had given the West Londoners an early lead.
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Mikel Arteta’s side looked completely reborn, playing with renewed freedom and swagger that suggested the crushing weight of last season’s title race has finally lifted off their shoulders.
Gone was the defensive attitude that Arsenal have been slammed for in massive fixtures in the past.
Instead, the Gunners went straight for Chelsea’s throat and they kept them penned back inside their own half even after going in front.
I predicted before the London derby that Havertz would have a big role to play against his former club.
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And the German striker single-handedly dismantled Chelsea’s defensive shape.
A whopping 47 per cent of Arsenal’s attacks came down the right-hand side.
With Christos Tzolis putting in a massive shift on the left flank, Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Odegaard were reunited on the opposite side and the Gunners strategically targeted the Blues’ weakest defensive spots.
SunSport’s tactics guru Dean Scoggins breaks down the three key areas that allowed Arteta to completely outwit Chelsea
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KAI SPY
The absolute key to Arsenal’s right-sided dominance was Havertz, playing right where he belongs as a roaming centre forward.
The Emirates favourite completely ruined Chelsea’s back three system by repeatedly drifting over to the right-hand channel to create an overload triangle with Saka and White.
I highlighted this exact movement in our Tactics Exposed Team Talk episode last week, calling it the “Mr Freeze” trick – and Havertz executed it to absolute perfection.
By dragging Chelsea defender Maxence Lacroix over into wide areas he desperately hated, Havertz left Wesley Fofana completely frozen in no man’s land.
That created a massive 19-metre canyon between Chelsea’s centre-backs, allowing the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Saka to drive straight through the heart of their backline early on.
Arteta deliberately targeted this side because Blues winger Rogers pushes extremely high up the pitch on the left flank, leaving acres of space behind him for Arsenal to exploit.
With Chelsea’s best natural defenders – like Reece James – operating on the opposite side, their left flank was completely exposed.
Time and time again, Havertz unlocked Chelsea’s shape – including a brilliant nutmeg flick through Fofana’s legs for Saka and a clever dummy that set up Odegaard’s winner.
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S-MARTIN ODEGAARD
Point number two belongs to skipper Odegaard, who delivered one of his bravest, most aggressive, and most dominant midfield performances in an Arsenal shirt.
Odegaard’s touch map was heavily stacked inside the opposition half, proving he was operating as a genuine, magic-making No10 rather than picking up touches on the halfway line.
When Chelsea attempted to execute a high press, Odegaard solved the problem single-handedly.
The ex-Real Madrid man dropped deep into a tight pocket between four rivals and turned sharply to instantly launch an attack.
But his biggest impact was higher up the pitch, where he spearheaded Arsenal’s brave six-man box-crashing unit.
Instead of sitting back and inviting pressure at 2-1 up, Arsenal pushed Odegaard, Gabriel, and White high into Chelsea’s penalty area, completely overwhelming their low block and keeping possession.
Odegaard’s goal was a carbon copy of his strike in the Community Shield, arriving late into the box to round off a slick team move through the heart of Chelsea’s defence.
He even took on Havertz’s “frozen man” role for Arsenal’s opener. The Norwegian talisman dragged a defender away to give his team-mate enough space to send a clinical finish past Emiliano Martinez.
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ALL HANDS ON DEC
None of Arsenal’s breathtaking attacking bravery is possible without Declan Rice putting in an absolute monster shift in the middle of the park.
Operating alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly in a balanced double pivot, the England man acted as the Gunners’ ultimate insurance policy against Chelsea’s rapid counter-attacks.
With Odegaard given total freedom to operate high up the pitch, Rice was tasked with covering an incredible amount of ground – sprinting forward to press man-for-man before rapidly tracking back.
He even showed a nasty, pragmatic side by committing a cynical Bernardo Silva-style tactical foul on his international team-mate Rogers to break up a dangerous Chelsea break.
The two of them were then involved in a bust-up, with the Arsenal man avoiding a booking.
When Joao Pedro bypassed Arsenal’s centre-backs to send Cole Palmer through, it was Rice who produced a miraculous recovery sprint to poke the ball back to safety.
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By holding down the fort with Lewis-Skelly, Rice provided the rock-solid foundation for Arteta’s front line to destroy Chelsea.
And he proved once again that he is the indispensable heartbeat of this title-chasing side.