Mikel Arteta became the first Arsenal manager to win back-to-back away league games at Spurs in the modern Premier League era as his side beat Ange Postecoglou’s men 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Arteta opted to keep faith with the same XI that had thrashed Chelsea 5-0 in midweek while Spurs made three changes, with Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson dropping out and Ben Davies, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Dejan Kulusevski coming into the starting XI.
Here are our talking points from the big NLD.
Ben White vs Vicario
White made a nuisance of himself at corner time, distracting Spurs goalkeeper Vicario and indirectly having a hand in both goals that the Gunners scored from set-pieces in this game. A little bit of the dark arts from the Arsenal right-back (he even attempted to intefere with Vicario’s gloves just before the first goal!), but one could also argue that Spurs’ players should’ve protected their goalkeeper better.
Possession and match stats in favour of home side
Spurs were clearly the dominant side in the first half, with 72% of possession and more than 3x the number of passes, but bizarrely trailed 3-0 at the interval, with Arsenal punishing the Lilywhites for every little mistake they made.
(Spurs FT stats on the left; Arsenal on right)
The disallowed Micky van der Ven goal was a big turning point- it would’ve rewarded Spurs for their dominance. The home side could also look at misses from Romero and Son in promising situations- in a big game like this, you simply have to be more clinical in front of goal.
Spurs’ first shot on target was the Romero goal
For all their dominance in terms of possession and passes, Spurs’ first shot on target in the entire game came from the Romero goal on 64 minutes. They had decent chances before (Romero and Son), but those shots were off target. That probably summed up the game for Spurs, and it’s telling that both their goals came from Arsenal mistakes, with David Raya and Declan Rice both making uncharacteristic errors in the penalty box.
Spurs were also the better rested side- they had two weeks to prepare for this game, while Arsenal played Bayern, Wolves and Chelsea during the same period.
Assisters turn goal scorers
The creator of the first goal went on to score the next one for Arsenal, as can be seen below.
First goal: (Assist) corner from Bukayo Saka, Spurs score own goal
Second goal: (Assist) from Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka scores goal
Third goal: (Assist) from Declan Rice; Kai Havertz scores goal
Vote of faith in Tomiyasu as LB from Arteta
Tomiyasu had made a start at LB for the first time since December against Chelsea, and in a big vote of faith, Arteta opted to give him another start. It was a tough game for the defender- he had his hands full against Kulusevski, with Spurs choosing to have most of their attacks down his wing, but to his credit, he acquitted himself well.
Spurs can do Arsenal a favour
Spurs still have to play Man City and Liverpool and can do the Gunners a huge favour, especially if they beat City. Spurs have been a bit of a bogey team for Pep Guardiola in recent years, and that match could have a big say in both City’s title ambitions and Spurs’ UCL hopes.
