Arteta and Bender’s positioning styles key as plethora of attacking options unfold at the Emirates

Despite some indifferent form in the Bundesliga which has seen Klopp’s men slip up against Monchengladbach and just scrape through past Hannover, Dortmund will always be expected to bring their high intensity and pressing game when on Champions League duty. Injuries have been their major worries in this campaign as main stays like Gundogan, Piszczek and Kehl are long term absentees. And albeit their new signings blending in well with the system, Dortmund have suffered from some crucial individual defensive mistakes in big games.

The state at the Emirates is no secret at the moment as talks amongst fans of ‘quadruple’ this year are no longer whispers. Though the Gunnners have not yet faced big enough opposition in the League, other than a newly assembled Spurs, the bright spot until now is that they have been picking up points in games where they surely would have dropped some last season. Infact some of the displays by Wenger’s men this season have been quite unlike their normal selves, and the Londoners have ended up with lesser possession stats and shots on target against Swansea and West Brom respectively. Though, the important point here stands out to be their much improved ‘successful passing rate’ and clinical finishing in either of the cases.

Predicted lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertersacker, Koscienly, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere, Rosicky, Giroud

Dortmund: Weidenfell, Groskreutz, Hummels, Subotic, Schmelzer, Bender, Sahin, Mkhitarayan, Aubameyang, Reus, Lewandowski

Team news is not promising for either of the 2 teams. Klopp will have to continue with Bender and Sahin in the middle, and will almost certainly be adding Henrikh Mkhitarayan to the mix to match Wenger’s numbers in the middle. Reus is fit enough for a start on the left with Aubameyang, who was compared to a young Thierry Henry by Klopp, is expected to start on the right ahead of Kuba. The striker’s spot is indisputable.

Wenger’s midfield on the other hand has suffered from the loss of Flamini, who despite not being the most creative of passers in the centre, would definitely have been required to put in a rough shift against the likes of Mkhitarayan and Reus in the centre. The Frenchman was used to good effect against Napoli as Wenger revealed that Flamini’s main role was to track Marek Hamsik’s runs through the centre. A similar role would have been needed against Mkhitarayan, who when Dortmund have the ball, has a tendency to arrive late in attack and has a good shot from outside the box. The role to mark him along with the highly influential Reus will fall majorly to Arteta. Infact it will be Marco Reus who will pose the more potent threat here, as it is the German who has now become the heartbeat of this Dortmund team.

Played majorly on the left, Reus is at his best when he finds space to receive the ball centrally in front of the opposition’s back four, and that exactly is the threat for Arteta on Tuesday. Arteta when paired in recent weeks with Flamini has looked much more comfortable in possession due to the marking in deep positions by the Frenchman. But here Arteta’s partner in the centre will be Ramsey, who though despite topping the charts in number of tackles, is often caught out on the counter. Arteta’s job is going to get no easier due to Lewandowski’s typically deep positioning which has seen him link up play beautifully with Aubameyang.

The young striker Aubameyang is often found drifting in from the right and positions himself next to the centre back when Dortmund has the ball. His sudden bursts of pace are immense when played in by either Reus or Lewandowski, and if Arteta does allow such through balls to be played in, Aubameyang will have the beating of Mertersacker all day.

In that respect, Wenger’s move to shift Wilshere to the right hand side of attack will pay off here. Jack, even when played as part of the attacking trio, is often seen to be starting off from central locations, and gliding forward while linking up play with the wingers. But against Dortmund it will be Wilshere’s defensive stint on the right that will be important, as though not being tactically astute in defencive marking, Jack still has the energy and spirit to track back with the dangerous Schmelzer. Though Wilshere will not be given the role to mark out Reus from the game, his central positioning on the right hand side will be a major factor in cutting out the supply to Reus.

At some point of time the talk had to shift in Aaron Ramsey’s direction, and the Welshman’s immense confidence at the moment is allowing him to raise the bar with every game. Ramsey presence alongside Arteta here gives the midfield battle a completely different dynamic in comparison to Dortmund’s midfield. Ramsey’s game against Norwich showed his growing tendency of running with the ball and from the board below his failed passes can be seen as short midfield ones rather than long balls. But his counterpart in yellow Nuri Sahin is more of an Arteta like player but playing alongside a deep lying tackler Sven Bender. Sahin’s distribution has been his stronghold’s and now due to Reus’s drifts to the centre, Sahin has started to be involved in more link up play from the left.

But actually it is Sven bender who turns the equation in Dortmund’s favor here. The German international has been seen to operate from extremely deep positions and at times is almost a 3rd Centre back for Klopp. Though this has led to the 2 CB’s Hummels and Subotic spread out and then get caught off the ball, Bender has been able to put in tackles in much deeper positions too. This will be particularly important against the likes of Ozil and Rosicky, who will start the match alongside Giroud for Arsenal. Giroud has been seen being used as the fulcrum on the offside line by Wenger for his midfielders to run past, so Bender will be required to push quite deep into the defence to cope up with such situations. It is in the aftermath of such a situation that the energetic pressing by Ramsey and Wilshere could affect the game, as Dortmund’s midfield will tend to get stretched due to the huge gap being created by Bender.

Though Hummels and Subotic were at one time one of the best defensive pairing, regular individual errors by either of the pair have often led to silly goals being conceded. In this regard Klopp’s men are quite similar to Arsenal’s entire defence, which though now is looking good, could be blown wide open at any point of time.

The game can be expected to be a very cagey affair in the final third for both sides. There is no lack of talent in the attacking midfield area of both setups, and it is down to how Arteta is able to deal with the deep duo of Reus and Lewandowski while Bender sits deeper to track down Ozil’s direct runs into the box.

Pie’s call: Arsenal 2-1 Dortmund