Arsenal entertain Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta’s team beat Manchester United at Old Trafford last week in their opening match of the campaign.
The Spaniard will be eager for his side to follow that impressive victory in the north-west up with another win on Saturday, with his team desperately needing to take maximum points before they travel to Anfield next week.
Arsenal will be without Kai Havertz for the clash with Daniel Farke’s men, while Ben White and Christian Norgaard are doubts.
Adrian Clarke says Leeds are vulnerable from set-pieces
Leeds got off to a winning start on their return to the Premier League on Monday night at Elland Road.
Farke’s outfit narrowly beat Everton in West Yorkshire, thanks to a controversial late penalty dispatched by Lukas Nmecha.
The Whites pressed exceptionally throughout, limiting the Toffees to just one open-play shot throughout the 90 minutes.
However, former Arsenal player and now pundit Adrian Clarke recognised a glaring weakness in Leeds’ game that the Gunners can exploit on Saturday.
“Set pieces have been a bit of a problem for Daniel Farke over the years, whether it was with Norwich or with Leeds,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“They’ve been a brilliant Championship side, but they always seem to let in goals or concede chances from corners and sometimes free-kicks as well.
“It’s been a bit of an achilles heel for them and obviously that’s one of our absolute strengths. Six of Everton’s seven chances against them on Monday night came from dead-ball situations.
“That tells you that from open play they defended brilliantly, but also that there is a fragility there that we can absolutely take advantage of.”
Mikel Merino must start over Declan Rice in Arsenal vs Leeds
It’s clear from their record in the Championship and the Everton game that Leeds defend excellently from open play.
Thus, the Gunners may have to lean into their set-piece strengths to open the match up and ultimately secure all three points.
One way in which they can do this is by starting Mikel Merino, who is dominant in the air and from dead-ball situations.
Declan Rice was poor against Manchester United, and while his delivery from set-pieces is generally exceptional, he doesn’t look fully fit yet.
| Rice’s Statistics vs Man Utd | |
| Minutes Played | 83 |
| Ground Duels Won | 0/1 (0%) |
| Tackles | 0 |
| Accurate Passes | 20/25 (80%) |
| Key Passes | 0 |
| Touches | 32 |
| Passes into the Final Third | 2 |
| Recoveries | 3 |
For this reason, it makes sense for Arteta to give Merino the nod against Leeds, and subsequently look to expose their aerial fragility by playing crosses in towards the Spaniard.
If the game isn’t going the Gunners’ way and they need Rice’s quality on the ball and his engine, then he’ll always be an option off the bench for Arteta.
Merino’s transformation into a focal point striker last season was described as ‘crazy’ by David Raya, and Arsenal will need the unpredictability he brings against Leeds.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
