Arsenal are set to face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, in what could be a season defining game for Mikel Arteta’s team.
The Gunners’ pursuit of the Premier League title is all but over, with Liverpool sitting 13 points clear at the summit of the English top flight.
The pressure is growing on Arteta to deliver a major honour, and success in Europe’s elite competition now appears the most viable route to this.
PSV will certainly be a tough opponent for Arsenal, although Arteta and his coaching staff would’ve done their due diligence on how to beat a Dutch side that hasn’t been in the best form of late.
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How Arsenal can beat PSV in the Champions League
Since knocking Juventus out of the Champions League, PSV have lost the two matches they’ve played, both against the same opposition.
Go Ahead Eagles, once the home of Arsenal legend Marc Overmars, defeated Peter Bosz’ side twice the space of four days last week.
Claiming a 2-1 win at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven in the Dutch Cup, Go Ahead then won 3-2 in a thrilling game in Deventer on the weekend in the Eredivisie.
A glaring theme across both games emerged, exposing some of the key flaws in PSV’s game.
Out of the five goals Go Ahead scored, four of them were created in moments of transition, when a quick burst from a midfielder or winger into the half spaces cut the PSV back line open.
These aggressive forward runs are something Arsenal lack in some of their sterile, heavily structured possession play, but it’s a facet they must stringently adopt to overcome the Red and whites in the Champions League.
The likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard have to take it upon themselves to make these runs into the channels, and exploit the space the slow PSV defence leaves.
Declan Rice has been instructed to fulfil this role under Arteta recently, but this isn’t the strongest aspect of the Englishman’s game, and it should instead be left to those more naturally suited to operating in advanced areas.
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Arsenal can exploit PSV from set-pieces
Go Ahead Eagles’ other goal came from a corner, and PSV look noticeably weak from dead ball situations.
Centre-backs Ryan Flamingo and Olivier Boscagli struggle aerially at times, and look susceptible to being physically dominant in the midst of a melee inside the box.
While PSV actually boast an impressive record from set-pieces in the Eredivisie, Go Ahead Eagles mapped out a blueprint to disrupting this stability.
Loading the back post with physical threats and aiming balls to that area looks to be something Bosz’ outfit struggle to deal with.
If Arsenal can get Rice and Odegaard swinging immaculate balls into these areas, this could be a deadly avenue for the Gunners to make up for their likely lack of open-play threat.
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