"How do Arsenal fill the Gabriel-void, which Spurs left-back will be tasked with stopping Bukayo Saka and will Thomas Frank switch up formation at the Emirates?"
Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit
Stopping Saka...
If Spurs are to claim a first win at the Emirates since 2018, the threat of Saka has to be nullified. Prior to the international break, he’d scored three in four – while across his last four north London derby appearances, the England winger has two goals and four assists. Saka’s form puts even more importance on the decision as to who starts at left-back. Destiny Udogie is back from injury and had an excellent impact against Manchester United, setting up the equaliser for Mathys Tel. Having not gone away with Italy, he should be fresh – as will Djed Spence who, despite a call-up, didn’t feature in either of England’s two World Cup qualifiers.
Set-piece show...
The late headed goal from Matthijs de Ligt in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United before the international break was only the second time Spurs have conceded from a set-piece this season in the Premier League. In fact, that’s the best defensive record – one that will be put to the test by Arsenal this weekend. The Gunners have scored 10 times from set-pieces, a league high, accounting for 50% of their goals. Declan Rice’s deliveries are extremely problematic, but he’s lost one of his main target men – after Gabriel picked up an injury on duty with Brazil.
The loss of Gabriel...
The numbers reinforce the idea of Gabriel’s importance to Arsenal, given he tops their defensive stats like blocks (17), shots blocked (13), clearances (65), while he’s their only outfielder to have played every league minute this season. Arsenal’s win percentage drops from 64% to 40% in the Premier League without him going back to September 2020, while at the other end he’s got two goals and three assists. Gabriel grabbed the winner at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season – and even those back-post runs to head the ball back across goal will be a major miss for the hosts.
Who replaces him?
Riccardo Calafiori could move in from left-back, as that’s his comfortable side, but he withdrew from Italy’s squad this month – and Mikel Arteta confirmed he hadn’t trained as of Friday. The Gunners brought in two new centre-backs in the summer in Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié, with the latter perhaps the more likely of the two to play the position after so much game time on the left-side of defence at Bayer Leverkusen. Myles Lewis-Skelly could then come in for a first league start of the season at left-back.
Will Spurs switch it up?
Mikel Arteta is aware of the potential for Spurs to switch formation – although the Super Cup is the sole match so far this season that has seen Thomas Frank start with three centre-backs. Arsenal have only had less than 50% possession in two games this season (the 1-0 win at Manchester United and the 1-0 loss at Liverpool) – so expect them to try and dominate the ball, as PSG like to do. In Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence, Spurs already have three players well accustomed to playing a wing-back role, while injured centre-backs Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Kota Takai have been training too. If it is 5-3-2, Kevin Danso would likely come in, which also arms the team from long-throws, and while Arsenal are strong from set-pieces, so are Spurs – ranking third in the Premier League for goals from them (6). Micky van de Ven caused David Raya problems from corners in the 1-0 friendly win over the summer – something to keep an eye out for – especially after his double at Everton last month.
Last time at the Emirates...