Introduction
Arsenal, the king of set pieces in the Premier League, have already scored from set pieces two games in a row, including the match winner against Manchester United. And now, it is time for them to deliver it against the reigning champions, Liverpool.
Liverpool have just appointed the set piece coach, Aaron Briggs, who had worked as individual development coach for them from last season. It is not sure if he had already worked on set pieces before the appointment was confirmed, but the last game against Newcastle, Liverpool showed a unique way of defending free kicks, which was setting the line deep in the box even when a free kick was taken from the centre circle.
Arsenal have worked on new routines especially in corner kicks and Liverpool showed the flexible idea of defending set pieces to nullify the opposition ideas. So, in this article, Arsenal’s attacking set pieces and how Liverpool can defend against them are going to be analysed.
Arsenal’s New Routines of Attacking Corner Kicks
Nicolas Jover, the set piece coach of Arsenal, cannot stop trying his new ideas. From the preseason games, they have performed newly designed routines in attacking corner kicks. Their main routine last season was positioning most attackers around the back post and getting them to move towards the first post or block the opposition zonal defenders from their inside.
This season, instead of gathering the attackers at the back post, they are positioned on line at the edge of the box and run towards each destination to do each task, which is blocking someone or attacking the ball.
The image below shows how Arsenal’s players were positioned and where they headed when they scored the opening and only goal in the game from the first corner kick of the season. By the way, “Z” means a zonal defender and “M” means a man-to-man defender for the defensive team in the image.
Martinelli, Ødegaard, Zubimendi, White and Saka waited on the edge of the box, Gabriel and Gyökeres positioned themselves around the penalty spot and Saliba and Calafiori stayed closer to the goal.
Then, two of the five players on the edge of the box, Martinelli and Zubimendi ran towards the first post with the intention to block the zonal defenders at the near side, while Ødegaard and Saka stayed on the edge of the box to prepare for the second ball and White dropped back. Both Gabriel and Gyökeres moved to their respective destinations as Gabriel attacked the middle of the six-yard box and Gyökeres drifted to the far post area.
In the six-yard box, Saliba was strongly positioned around the opposition goalkeeper and competed in the air, which made him make a mistake and Calafiori reacted well to put it into the back of the net.
The image below illustrates where each player occupied when the ball was delivered.
Even though the initial positions seemed unique, ultimately each player occupied each area with a good balance. If the delivery had been short, Zubimendi would have met it at the first post, if it hadn’t curved enough, Gabriel would have headed on the edge of the six-yard box and if long, there would have been Gyökeres at the back post area.
The initial positions are important to make it difficult for the opponents to see the ball and attackers at once, but the opponents might get used to Arsenal’s previous routine that the attackers stayed at the far side and ran towards the first post. This might be the reason why Nicolas Jover made some changes to disguise the opposition this season.
Liverpool’s Defensive Structure
From the preseason, Liverpool kept conceding goals from set pieces, but most of them came from free kicks. But first, as Arsenal’s attacking corner tactics were just analysed in the previous chapter, how Liverpool would defend against them is going to be discussed here.
Defending Corner Kick
This is how they seem to set up against Arsenal.
The selection of players is the same as their last game against Newcastle, so Szoboszlai is predicted to play as the right fullback again.
The setup can be categorised as “Mix marking”, which is the combination of man marking and zonal defending. Zonal defenders consist of Eitike, Kerkez, Van Dijk, Konaté and Gravenberch. Wirtz and Salah are also kind of zonal defenders who are ready for stepping up against short corners or second balls. Other players, Szoboszlai, Jones, Gakpo, mark the opposition key attackers.
If they do not change the way, the opposition attacker inside their zonal structure would not be marked. In the last two games, Guimarães and Semenyo were left unmarked even though they could have been obstacles to Alisson inside the zone. However, Saliba is likely to be there and block him, so it is difficult to think he won’t be marked, to be honest. Moreover, Arsenal often deliver towards the goalkeeper, so an additional guard for Alisson should be installed.
In terms of how they conceded goals from corner kicks so far, there might be some excuses because the players are different as they conceded goals from the headers in between zonal defenders. Compared to complete zonal setups, this mix setup has less zonal defenders inside the six-yard box, which requires the ability for them to cover more space. This is what Arsenal would exploit.
As they did against Man United, they have some blockers against the zonal defenders in the near side. Or, they often create an overload at the first post. To be fair, if Arsenal do this, it is not about structure, but it is all about individual effort. Kerkez and Ekitike need to anticipate how they will be blocked and battle to keep their position to compete in the air. And, Van Dijk is also important to cover the space at the first post and defend a wider area. This is the most important part if Arsenal aimed for the near post delivery.
Defending Free Kick
Liverpool’s defensive structure against free kicks in the last game was fascinating. In recent trends, keeping the line as high as possible and delaying to drop back became common countermeasures against the opponents who initially have players in the offside position and let them block the defenders from their blind side. However, Liverpool did the opposite against Newcastle.
Even the free kick is taken from around the centre circle, Liverpool set the line so deep that they are even inside the 18-yard box.
The biggest strength of this is that they can defend forward against the delivery instead of dropping backward. This lets the defenders compete in the air with more power and more balanced manners. They don’t need to drop back, so they can be stronger in the aerial duels. And the space between the back line and Alisson can be tight, so he doesn’t need to defend a bigger area and it also means that the opponents cannot create so much space by blocking.
This can be effective against Arsenal, who always have the attackers behind the defensive line who sneak in between the defenders. Additionally, against Arsenal last season at Anfield, which had taken place after Liverpool secured the title, Liverpool applied the offside trap, but Nicolas Jover surpassed it.
As usual, the four attackers started to move from the opposition blind side to each gap in between the defenders, but just before the ball was kicked, Liverpool’s defenders pushed the line up to leave all of the four attackers in the offside position. However, Saka made the run in behind from the edge of the box to avoid the trap and successfully met the cross, although the shot went wide.
With this experience in mind, it is reasonable to think that Liverpool won’t try this trick again and will decide to set the line deeper. But anyway, they need to find a way to avoid the blockers from the blind side.
Key Points in the Game
When Arsenal have a corner kick, it should be the first question if they use the new routine that they have five players on line at the edge of the box or stick to the previous routine. They can now have variety so it must make it difficult for Liverpool to predict what Arsenal will do especially in the first corner kick.
From Liverpool’s perspective, who to mark is the first question. Probably, it will be Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori, but Gyökeres and Zubimendi also wait in dangerous areas. Liverpool usually leave the opponent inside the zonal structure unmarked to keep space for Alisson, but if Saliba is there, it is impossible to ignore.
Apart from the structure, if Arsenal create an overload at the first/back post area, individual ability to nullify the blockers or cover larger space is important. At the first post, especially, Kerkez and Ekitike would be blocked or targeted, so they need to pay more attention and Van Dijk also must cover space around him better.
Finally, it is also an option for Arsenal to play short. Last time at Anfield, the only corner kick taken by Arsenal was played short. Ødegaard came short from inside the zonal structure and played a one-two with Saka to penetrate into the box. Let’s see if Nicolas Jover prepared this kind of a “tailored” pattern.
When Arsenal have chances of free kicks, the height of the defensive line will be the key. If it is deep like Liverpool did against Newcastle, it will help them to nullify the space between the defensive line and Alisson, where Arsenal try to exploit with some blocks. However, as the line is already deep, the header will be closer to the goal, making it difficult for Alisson to react.
On the other hand, if Liverpool set the line high or even apply the offside trap, the outcome will be offside or goal. It has a risk, but if Liverpool can leave the blockers or other attackers offside, the shot will never count even if they find the back of the net.
This element is something Liverpool can take initiative. Arsenal need to respond to it. Moreover, Arsenal are required to manage counterattacks from Salah, Gakpo and Ekitike. It must be a close game, so needless to say, set pieces are important.
