Arsenal Analysed: How we won 4-0 at Ipswich

We capped a fine week's work by thrashing Ipswich Town 4-0 at Portman Road to blow the Blues away, but what were the secrets behind our success in Suffolk?

Adrian Clarke has spent time poring through the footage and stats to unearth just why Mikel Arteta's men were so effective at Portman Road on Sunday:

COMPLETE DOMINANCE

A strong starting XI quickly set about their work at Portman Road, playing at an insatiably high tempo right from the start, which Ipswich found incredibly hard to live with. The energy was bright, and so was our pass-and-move football. Before Leif Davis’ 32nd-minute sending off we had already gone 2-0 up and created numerous clear-cut chances, such was our supremacy.

From a tactical perspective, Martin Odegaard was almost always our spare man. Up against a back four that was pinned back, and a two-man central midfield, he continually found space in pockets to the right of centre, as shown in the build-up to our opening goal below.

Relentless in our pursuit of more goals, this match was pretty much one-way traffic from beginning to end. Winning the shot count 24-4, the hosts failed to register a single shot on target, and in perhaps the most telling stats of all was that we enjoyed 65 more touches inside the opposition penalty area.

When you have as much possession as Arteta’s men had in this encounter (75%), it isn’t always easy to break down defensive opponents. Yet here, as shown on the Expected Goals graphic (below) we created plenty of good opportunities to score.

Expected Goals Map – Ipswich (left), Arsenal (right) 

MIDFIELD MUSCLE

The manager will have been hugely impressed by the way Declan Rice and Mikel Merino operated in tandem to own the Portman Road engine room.

Playing in the holding role, Rice was a ball-winning machine. The home side barely had possession, but he still made 10 recoveries before half-time, and 12 overall before his 73rd-minute substitution. As displayed below, he also won two tackles and an interception, in a formidable defensive display:

Rice's ball recoveries, tackles won and interceptions

Playing on the left of midfield, Merino was also top class with and without the ball. He created one gilt-edged chance for Bukayo Saka with a clever through ball – just as he did against Real Madrid – and it was his cheeky backheel that laid the ball on a plate for Gabriel Martinelli’s goal to make it 2-0.

Merino’s off-the-ball work was tremendous too, winning 10 duels and four of his six tackles. Regaining possession inside the opposition half on several occasions, the Spaniard’s pressing was excellent.

TROSSARD PASSES AUDITION

The most eye-catching tactical change from our monumental win at the Santiago Bernabeu was the use of Leandro Trossard as the central striker.

With Thomas Partey suspended for the first leg of our Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, it looked like the manager wanted to take a look at Merino in central midfield, with Trossard leading the line. That is certainly an option for the last four clash, and just as he did when starting at Everton, the Belgian impressed with his link play, movement and finishing in that position.

The way Odegaard fed passes into Trossard’s feet (11) provided food for thought on an afternoon when he had four attempts at goals, scoring twice. Both strikes came by cleverly shooting through the legs of a defender, and his first was especially smart, as he was losing balance just as he aimed his effort through the legs of Dara O’Shea:

Trossard’s varied movement also helps Merino join in as a centre-forward, even when he plays in midfield. Ahead of Martinelli’s goal, our number 19 pulled wide onto the touchline to receive a switch pass, before releasing Saka in behind. Merino made up ground to flick the ball on for the Brazilian to score, from a striker’s position:

TAKING THE SHORT ROUTE

We won the corner count 12-0 in this contest, but unusually, ten of our flag kicks were taken short:

Merino almost scored early on when he escaped his marker on the penalty spot to get on the end of a cross from just three yards out. That close shave might have encouraged us to repeat the ploy, but instead we attempted a stream of intricate training ground routines. Many of these tied Ipswich in knots, so it was no surprise when Rice set up Trossard to score from a short corner on 69 minutes.

Initially Rice and Odegaard draw two blue shirts out for a 2v2, but look at Trossard’s position on the corner of the six-yard box:

From the one-two out wide, we created a 3v2 as no-one tracks Trossard closely enough as he stays in that unorthodox pocket of space. Rice set him free, and our Belgian forward turned neatly before firing a shot into the bottom corner:

Late on, Ethan Nwaneri also scored from a move that began with a short corner he was involved in. Staying untracked inside the box, Oleksandr Zinchenko picked him out, before the teenager struck a deflected shot into the net.

While we did try a number of these corners against Brentford, the coaching staff clearly identified a weakness in the hosts’ set-up and preyed on it with short routines.

FRIENDS REUNITED

Starting together in the Premier League for the first time since our 1-1 draw at Chelsea in November, it was lovely to see Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka working in tandem again. As a trio they destroyed the Tractor Boys down our right-hand side, combining smoothly to create a series of opportunities.

Odegaard (116) and White (111) had more touches than anyone else, and the triangles they produced with Saka constantly bore fruit. This one-two between Saka and Odegaard created a chance for Trossard early on, and it is a pattern we saw repeated on several occasions:

The harmony between all three was a joy to watch and each of them was heavily involved. Saka missed two big chances, Odegaard hit the post, and between them they created 13 goalscoring opportunities.

This was a very professional away performance, brimming with positive energy and sharpness. Ahead of a midweek clash with Crystal Palace, our rhythm looks terrific