How Arsenal can outsmart PSG in Champions League semi-final as Mikel Arteta faces Declan Rice dilemma
ARSENAL face Paris Saint-Germain in one of their most important games in recent history next week.
The Gunners welcome PSG to the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
And should they win across two games, they will reach the final of Europe’s elite competition for the first time in 19 years.
It is certainly doable, given the club’s performance against Real Madrid earlier this month.
But PSG will prove another tough test.
In the latest edition of SunSport’s Tactics Exposed, our expert Dean Scoggins takes a look at how Arsenal can beat the Ligue 1 champions.
WILL PSG PLAY WITH A 4-3-3 FORMATION?
Aston Villa showed in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals that you can get at PSG.
On paper, they will play 4-3-3 with three midfielders in a triangle including Vitinha at the base.
However, that is rarely how a team ends up.
PSG and Luis Enrique are massive disciples of the 3-2-5, so the 4-3-3 will convert very quickly into wide players going up, a centre forward going forward, midfielders joining in and a full back going in to make a 3-2-5 shape.
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Manchester City and Arsenal both do it in the Premier League on a regular basis.
The tactical flexibility of Achraf Hakimi in this situation is key, because what may happen is that whoever plays on the right – possibly Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue or Ousmane Dembele – may go inside.
Hakimi would then be the wide high man and the midfield player would stay inside.
They’re very flexible, but it’s a rigid structure.
PSG have an attacking shape that they want to play within.
They will commit wide men right up on the line and try to maintain their width all the way through.
PSG are not afraid to be direct – they will switch play a lot and they will try and target those wingers in behind.
For Arsenal, the gaps to attack will be high and wide.
PSG are very brave in possession. They are more than happy to take the ball under pressure in a bid to create more space for the attackers.
Should Myles Lewis-Skelly play as a left-back for Arsenal, it is unlikely he will invert to the middle like he usually does, because the Parisians will have a field day on the wing with the remaining space.
Mikel Arteta could go with Riccardo Calafiori or Jurrien Timber on the left with Ben White on the right because they are out-and-out full-backs.
WILL RICE BE THE HOLDING MIDFIELDER?
Thomas Partey will not feature for the Gunners in the first leg due to a one-match suspension.
It leaves Arteta with a few dilemmas – not just about personnel.
The Arsenal boss could decide to play Mikel Merino next to Declan Rice in midfield.
Or, Rice could push up next to Martin Odegaard, leaving the dilemma of who will be the holding man.
It could be White, Timber or potentially Calafiori.
But Arteta is risk averse. It’s very unlikely that he is just going to switch up a player that he hasn’t used in that position that much.
Therefore, Merino will likely stay in midfield with Leandro Trossard moving into the No9 position.
How do PSG combat that?
Enrique absolutely loves the diamond shape – that’s why he likes that 3-2-5 formation.
It means they can overload when moving forward.
They want to create an overload so that opposition players are dragged in, leaving space behind for the attack.
Rice will therefore have the job of his life moving across the pitch so that Arsenal’s full-backs don’t get dragged inside.
DO PSG HAVE MOST ATTACKING THREATS?
PSG are breathtaking going forward.
They are so comfortable in every position. We could see any of Bradley Barcola, Kvaratskhelia, Doue and Dembele on the left – and then all of those in different positions.
And because they regularly switch play during a game, it causes major problems for the defenders.
The changes of positions out wide and into the middle will also be key.
It’s not just the attackers that are the big threats, it’s Hakimi as well.
That is why PSG are the hardest team in Europe to defend against right now.