Premier League 2018/19: Sarri's tactics explained and why Arsenal are in for an acid test

The defensive shape

Chelsea lose no time in regaining their defensive shape when they lose the ball. They fall back into a 5-4-1 with Jorginho playing the role of a defensive pivot.

Arsenal could have a difficult afternoon in breaking down the Chelsea defence or find a way to penetrate past their compact lines as Sarri's men demonstrate high defensive work rates. The only weak link might be the understanding between Rudiger and David Luiz and the occasional mistake that shows from time to time.

A Very Compact 5-4-1 For Chelsea

Chelsea do not fear to play the long ball while defending and find it an incredibly useful tactic under new manager Sarri, who believes in building up attacks from their defensive positions.

He followed the same pattern at Napoli with the hope of finding Hamsik, who was his go-to-guy on the wings. At Chelsea, he could do the same thing with Hazard, Willian and Pedro. Even if the counter does not go as planned, "Sarriball" doesn't mind going back vertically and up again, as long as they retain possession in what the Italian media describes as vertical tiki-taka.

Last season Chelsea hosted Arsenal on two occasions with both the Premier League games and the Carabao Cup match, ending at 0-0. However, this time around, such a scoreline seems improbable with Maurizio Sarri's "Sarriball" in full effect - which can prove fatal for Arsenal who are still getting the pieces of their jigsaw together under Unai Emery.