Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was forced into a tactical rethink after an injury to Oleksandr Zinchenko. Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley believes the emergence of Jakub Kiwior at left-back has given the Spaniard a new dimension.
Kiwior, who was signed from Spezia for £20million in January 2023, has started Arsenal’s last four matches. Three of those have been thumping Premier League victories over West Ham, Burnley and Newcastle.
Adopting the responsibilities of a more traditional full-back, Kiwior has tended to stay wide of his central defenders and advances forward on the wing. That is different from when Zinchenko has played at left-back.
The Ukrainian takes up a more central position when Arsenal are in possession. Arteta uses this tactic to create an overload in midfield and to ensure his team are prepared for a counter-attack.
However, Burley has pointed out that Arsenal have been better defensively with Kiwior at left-back. It has also improved their attacking output, with the north Londoners scoring 15 goals in the last three Premier League matches.
Arsenal FC v Newcastle United - Premier League
Jakub Kiwior has helped Arsenal improve defensively since being introduced at left-back (Image: Getty)
“Kiwior coming in for Zinchenko, it’s kind of stopped that, 'Oh, let’s go and sort of faff about in the middle with the extra [player]’, he’s more of a natural full-back,” ESPN pundit Burley said.
“So, they’ve all of a sudden got [Ben] White on one side, Kiwior on the other, and they’ve got four guys who, yeah, they’ll get forward, but guess what? They want to defend as well. And that’s given them some stability at the back.”
Despite an underwhelming performance in their defeat against Porto last week, Arsenal have generally been better at nullifying their opponents in the Premier League.
After Arsenal’s 5-0 thumping of Burnley, data showed that in their last five matches, Arteta’s side conceded chances amounting to just 1.7 expected goals (xG). The average xG allowed per game is 1.6, emphasising how Arsenal’s defence has massively outperformed their top-flight rivals.
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