Amid the supposed ‘three horse race’ at the top of the Premier League, Arsenal have quietly risen into contention after a dazzling run of form that has seen them win nine games in a row across all competitions.
A 100 per cent record after early defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea back in August has left the Gunners in fourth place and fans are now dreaming of a possible title challenge after years of malaise under Arsene Wenger.
Unai Emery, a shrewd tactician, has made his mark on the squad quickly and they are now looking a genuine force. Here, Sportsmail looks at just some of the factors that have been key to turning their fortunes around
Torreira’s influence
Among the many things that frustrated Arsenal fans in the final stages of Wenger’s tenure, there was a failure to solve glaring problems in the transfer market. Be it a competent central defender, an imposing presence in midfield or a world class goalkeeper. Emery has come in and within one transfer window has seemingly fixed one of those issues. Lucas Torreira arrived in the Premier League after impressing in Serie A with Sampdoria and a good showing at the World Cup with Uruguay and has transformed the midfield.
He wasn’t immediately thrust into action by Emery but ever since he was given the nod his contribution at the base of midfield has been impressive. On Sunday alone he made six interceptions and eight recoveries, more than any of his team-mates, and looked composed on the ball.
Deadly duo up front
Another area of the team Wenger failed to address until his final season was up front and Emery is now reaping the rewards. The Frenchman moved to bring in Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon in the summer of 2017 before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Borussia Dortmund for north London in January. Both have featured in some form in every Premier League game this season and have contributed to attacking play enormously. Lacazette has five goals and three assists in all competitions, while Aubameyang boasts six goals and one assist
People wax lyrical over Liverpool’s famed front three and Manchester City’s broad offensive options but Arsenal’s deadly partnership and the support cast of Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi should be in the conversation as well.
Pass, pass, pass
It was evident in Arsenal’s opening two games against Manchester City and Chelsea that Emery would never go against his principles, despite the opposition’s threat. Players were told to play out from the back no matter the cost and Petr Cech nearly gifted City a few goals and at Stamford Bridge they weren’t much better. In recent weeks that has majorly improved but we still saw the good and bad signs of the tactic at Craven Cottage. It firstly handed Fulham a route back into the match when Luciano Vietto latched onto Nacho Monreal’s poor pass to feed Andre Schurrle for the equaliser.
In the first half alone Arsenal misplaced 25 passes close to their goal – the second-most by any Premier League side in a single half all season. But fast forward after the break and their free-flowing style resulted in Aaron Ramsey’s goal. From deep inside Arsenal’s half, they played eight passes before the Welshman flicked the ball into the net.
Using their wide threat
One noticeable difference in Arsenal’s attacking play is the amount of crosses they are getting into the box. So far this season they have delivered 92 crosses into the area, up from 81 in the final eight games of last season, and are reaping the rewards. The Gunners have netted three times from crosses so far this season, the joint-third highest in the division.
Iwobi, Welbeck and Shkodran Mustafi have all converted from a ball played into the penalty box and only Burnley, Newcastle, Watford, Tottenham and Everton have managed more.
Showing their class
After getting a nightmare start against City and Chelsea out of the way, Arsenal would have looked at the fixture list and fancied their chances.
Games against West Ham, Cardiff, Newcastle, Everton, Watford and Fulham have followed and they have taken maximum points. But in previous seasons those games have not always gone according to plan. They lost against Swansea, Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Stoke last season in matches they should have won.
If you can win those types of games it sets you up perfectly for a top four challenge at least and then taking points in games against the ‘big six’ come as a bonus. If they can keep this run going and continue to grow in confidence, the so-called lesser teams will no longer see Arsenal as a potential source of points.
