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Soccer

Arsenal repeat an old mistake, while Spurs get pressing

Almost same-old, same-old for Arsenal One thing has changed - and that is Arsenal's resilience. ...



Arsenal repeat an old mistake,...
Soccer

Arsenal repeat an old mistake, while Spurs get pressing

Almost same-old, same-old for Arsenal

One thing has changed - and that is Arsenal's resilience. But on the evidence of Saturday evening, Arsene Wenger learnt nothing from last season's match up with Everton.

The corresponding fixture at Goodison Park last term saw Romelu Lukaku run riot in a right sided role, and although there was every chance that the Toffees manager Roberto Martinez would repeat that trick again, Arsenal did not react as the Belgian striker once again had the better of left-back Nacho Monreal.

Indeed Lukaku's run which setup the second goal for Steven Naismith was reminiscent of his charge towards when he scored against the Gunners last season.  

Noticeably Arsenal only got back into the game when Lukaku was substituted and Everton lost that counter-attacking outlet on the right.

And significantly, both crosses for Arsenal's goals came from the left wing in those final 15 minutes after Lukaku was replaced by Ireland winger Aiden McGeady who has the pace but not the same raw power.

 

Tottenham pressing

Manager Mauricio Pochettino likes pressing and hence Tottenham noticeably scored high in terms of tackles won and interceptions won in the QPR half during yesterday's 4 - 0 thrashing.

They won 61 per cent of their tackles during the match and also managed 18 interceptions - 7 of which were from the halfway line or over.

Noticeably they seemed to press the QPR midfield rather than the defence and here is how the Squawka map shows their attempted tackles in the opposition portion of the field:

  

Man United

The Reds' problems continued this week as the back three continued to look skittish, the midfield lacked tempo and the front trio on which Louis Van Gaal has banked so much on, struggled to link together.

Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney only passed the ball to Robin Van Persie once each, while Van Persie only passed the ball towards Mata twice during the entire match.  

Mata and Rooney linked up more often together, attempting 11 passes to each other. 

All stats are courtesy of statistics website Squawka. Learn more about Squawka and the free app by clicking here.

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