Sunderland returned to the Stadium of Light in league action following a battling point on the road to high-flying Brentford, having to welcome the current champions Arsenal in a game which saw the real limits of Premier League physicality put to the test. After an exhilarating match last season, Sunderland were unable to replicate their heroics in salvaging a draw, however, they took the league leaders right to the line. How did Le Bris change his tact to set the Lads up and give Arsenal their biggest
test of the season so far?
Sunderland Line-Up
With a debut handed to Kevin Danso a week prior, Le Bris opted to retain an unchanged XI from the side that faced Brentford a week prior, having made a full sweep of XI changes during the week to face Hull City in the Carabao Cup. Sunderland retained their solid back four, as Reinildo & Mukiele paired at full-back to provide stability & width, whilst Kevin Danso & Dan Ballard provided aerial threat in the box.
Sunderland’s central midfield trio remained in place with Granit Xhaka supporting the base of the three, whilst out wide, Nilson Angulo continued wide on the left & Thomas Meunier provided extra defensive cover whilst holding width on the right-hand side, giving Mukiele licence to roam & overlap when Sunderland look to break quickly in transition. Brian Brobbey led the line, having featured only from the bench in this fixture last season despite grabbing the last-minute equaliser to secure a point.
Sunderland’s 4-3-3 shape was very much a 4-4-2 in this one due to the lack of overall possession. Enzo Le Fée would sit up alongside Brobbey to lead & funnel the press, whilst Meunier would tuck in narrow to help compact the shape & force Arsenal to play vertically within their build-up.
Opposition Line-Up
Mikel Arteta was also looking to gain some consistency with his league selection, having named an unchanged XI from the side that defeated Chelsea the week prior. With Arsenal kicking off their own Champions League campaign midweek away to Napoli, several players were rotated midweek; however, Arteta stuck to his strongest side for the visit to the Stadium of Light.
Arsenal have become synonymous with controlling games under Arteta, sticking to a rigid 4-2-3-1 system which sees a back four consisting of four central defenders capable of also operating as full-backs, with Ben White & Ricardo Calafiori providing physical height & athleticism that allow Arsenal to be so imperious from set pieces. Declan Rice & Miles Lewis-Skelly anchored the midfield, whilst Martin Odegaard was given a free role behind Kai Havertz. Arsenal’s wings consisted of their preferred wide options, with Bukayo Saka on the right whilst Christian Tzolis inverted in off the left.
Total Chess Match
With Sunderland going into this one as firm underdogs, Le Bris is never one to shy away from cultivating a game plan to stifle the opposition & it was clear from the early out-of-possession shape that he’d taken another bold approach to disrupt Arsenal’s build-up. By deploying a hybrid Man-to-Man (M2M) press within Arsenal’s frontline, Sunderland looked to isolate the Arsenal midfield & attack 1v1, with the exception of one player, Martin Odegaard.
Whilst the ball was in the Arsenal half, Granit Xhaka would operate on a M2M press by pushing up high to prevent Odegaard from turning on the ball, whilst Sadiki followed Lewis-Skelly & Ballard pushed on to isolate Declan Rice. By utilising Brobbey, Le Fée & one of Sunderland’s wingers, the Lads looked to filter Arsenal’s build-up down either flank before forcing their way back in-field, at which point Xhaka would drop off from Odegaard to switch onto Rice whilst the remainder of the team stayed in shape.
The switch to a more zonal press within Sunderland’s own half placed emphasis on Odegaard to carry the ball from deep, and whilst it allowed him to advance frequently un-contested, it also forced Arsenal to play through Odegaard solely, cutting off Saka, Tzolis & Havertz entirely from being involved in early exchanges or touches from deep.
Whilst Arsenal were limited to what they could produce, Odegaard ultimately was able to fashion two chances, one to Saka who fluffed his lines after a Reinildo lapse in concentration, whilst the second saw an audacious overhead kick attempted by Havertz which both Sunderland central defenders will have felt happy with the angle the striker was forced to let loose from.
In the opening half, Sunderland limited Arsenal to five shots, eleven touches in our box and, whilst they generated an xG of 0.77, this was largely due to the Saka chance in isolation and was the second lowest they’ve produced this season.
On the contrast, Arsenal looked to utilise Dan Ballard as their pressing trigger to hem Sunderland in and sustain as much control as possible. Whenever the central defender advanced with the ball beyond the Sunderland technical area, he was immediately pressed by two Arsenal players, often leading him to play a long ball into the channel on his weaker left side, hopeful of reaching Brobbey but often surrendering possession due to Ballard’s slightly weaker ability to carry the ball under pressure than his teammate Kevin Danso.
Similar to the Guardiola blueprint, Arsenal’s aim is to suffocate the opposition via control, seeking the ball by hunting in packs & preventing teams from breaking the press.
One special mention for the small build up sequence which involved springing Nordi Mukiele down the line after a lOne special mention for the small build-up sequence which involved springing Nordi Mukiele down the line after a lovely interchange of passing between Danso, Xhaka & Roefs, which, whilst it amounted to nothing, shows a clear coordinated approach to spring opposition teams and really demonstrates that Le Bris was able to find sequences which cut through the most resolute team in Europe when placed under heavy pressure.
Second Half Expansiveness
Sunderland started the second half on the front foot, having done their best to contain Arsenal throughout the opening period. The introduction of Bruno Guimaraes & Jurrien Timber for the away side signalled a higher-tempo second half, and Sunderland almost immediately saw joy up against the Dutch full-back, who was recovering from injury, and won several long throws in an attempt to crank up the pressure.
The third of these in quick succession ultimately paid dividends as Esri Konsa, who’d had a rough evening coping with Brian Brobbey, was adjudged to have bundled over Ballard, resulting in a Sunderland penalty.
Le Fée ultimately struck his penalty into the outstretched gloves of David Raya, pulling off an outstanding stop to tip the ball onto the post, which, for context, Le Fée’s penalty produced an xG SoT of 0.92 (which, for context, means 92/100 penalties struck in that position result in goals) and showcases how good a save Raya produced.
Given the time elapsed prior to taking the penalty, much can be made of whether Le Fée somewhat telegraphed his spot, but nothing should be taken away from Raya’s heroics in such a high-pressure situation.
In games of such fine margins, Arsenal broke down the other end & made use of some unorganised defensive shape following a rushed clearance which didn’t fully run out of play at the Sunderland end, only to take full advantage.
Guimaraes was able to buy himself half a yard of space before fizzing a strike off the underside of the crossbar to open the scoring. In stark contrast to the penalty, Guimaraes’ strike was from an xG of 0.08 and demonstrated the exceptional ability of the midfielders in the Premier League.
Switching Shape & Pushing Hard
With Sunderland falling a goal behind in a matter of moments after having their penalty saved, Le Bris rolled the dice and opted to deploy a more traditional 4-4-2 for the first time since our time in the Championship. Isidor & Fofana were introduced for Angulo & Meunier to help bombard Arsenal under as much pressure as possible, nearly resulting in an equaliser.
Fofana was able to show his pace down the line and produced two great crosses late on, whilst Mukiele was able to direct two efforts towards Raya’s goal and placed Arsenal under immense pressure.
Whilst Sunderland came away empty-handed, they managed to generate more chances and a consequently higher xG at 1.80 than Arsenal had conceded in all of their previous games this season combined at 1.63 xG. Sunderland also managed as many touches in the box as Chelsea the week prior and took the joint-most shots as them with 13 in the game.
Whilst we unfortunately didn’t get anything to show for it, the effort, determination & desire shown to go right to the wire was appreciated by both Sunderland & Arsenal fans alike. Sunderland have nearly made it through the opening of the fort, still picking up points.
Onward & Upward
With a historic home fixture against AZ to kick off their Europa League campaign midweek, followed by another gruelling away trip down to the Etihad before the month-long international break, Sunderland will be looking to regroup and go again.
Despite the points not following the performances this season so far, our underlying data remains much more promising than the last campaign. We’re creating chances on a much more regular basis whilst also conceding far fewer shots in the process. Hang tight – results will come.
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