Arsenal and Tottenham experienced the first-ever overseas North London Derby as the pair went head-to-head in Hong Kong.
In the final fixture of Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia, the Gunners clashed with their fiercest rivals.
A sea of red took over the Kai Tak Sports Park, with all eyes on whether Mikel Arteta would debut two of his new signings.
Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera made the bench in the contest, but early on, a change other than personnel was spotted.
Arsenal debut new corner routine
If there’s one thing that brought Arsenal great joy last season, it was Nicolas Jover’s tactical nous.
Arteta’s set-piece coach worked tirelessly with the team at Colney to maximise Arsenal’s threat from dead-ball scenarios, and it worked quite staggeringly.
Arsenal got so good at corners that Arteta was compared to Tony Pulis, but despite the success that came from Jover’s routine, a fresh approach has been debuted.
Against Tottenham, journalist Alex Howell photographed how the Gunners lined up before the ball was swung in from the corner flag, showing an opposing formation to last season.
Whereas last term, Arsenal would overload the box and score by outsmarting their man-markers with clever movement, in pre-season, the targets started outside of the box.
Five players lined up on the edge of the box, with just three inside it, giving Spurs’ defenders something to think about.
Jover will be eager for Arsenal to restore their threat from set plays in 2025/26 after his tactics were sussed out by the opposition in the latter stages of last season.
Arsenal have bolstered their set-play targets this summer
It’s unsurprising to see Arsenal try a different approach from corners, not only due to last term’s tactics growing stale.
The Gunners have welcomed six new players this summer, with the majority of the acquisitions having the profiles to become aerial threats.
Mosquera will want to improve his heading skills, as will Gyokeres, who, remarkably, isn’t known for his threat from headers.
Premier League teams couldn’t live with Arsenal from corners last term, with Jover’s eyes on restoring the danger.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
