Alex Keble's Premier League match-ups: Cherry picking for Bournemouth against Man Utd
- Alex Keble (@alexkeble) is a football journalist who specialises in tactical understanding, analysis and predictions of all aspects of the game.
Scroll down for Arsenal vs Aston Villa and Liverpool vs Crystal Palace match-ups.
Saka & Jesus v Konsa & Digne
- Arsenal vs Aston Villa
- Sky Sports Main Event: 16:30 GMT, Sunday
- Home 1/4 | Draw 5/1 | Away 19/2
Aston Villa have a new problem developing. They’ve started conceding in bursts, which Ollie Watkins has diagnosed as lacking a “big team mentality” but might simply be the loss of Boubacar Kamara. And things are probably about to get worse: Villa are without the suspended Douglas Luiz for the next two matches.
If that wasn’t reason enough to assume Arsenal will overwhelm Villa, Unai Emery also has a major tactical issue down both flanks. In the 3-3 draw with Brentford last weekend Sergio Reguilon created three goals with crosses from the left, following the pattern of their last six Premier League matches.
Eight of the 12 goals Villa have conceded in that time have come from crosses or cut backs played once behind a full-back, with both Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa looking more and more wobbly as Villa tire.
Arsenal dispatched of Brighton 3-0 last weekend by targeting the same areas. Knowing Roberto de Zerbi packs the middle of the pitch, Mikel Arteta instructed his team to hit longer passes into Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, both of whom got chalk on their boots. Jesus, receiving the ball wide and running straight at Tariq Lamptey, won the penalty from which Arsenal took the lead.
All Arsenal need do, then, is repeat the same tactic. Jesus and Saka should get the better of Konsa and Digne one-on-one, exposing Villa’s defence. The loss of Luiz and Kamara already gave Villa an uphill battle. Unless Emery has fixed things in the week, the visitors don’t stand a chance.
Elliott v Eze
- Liverpool vs Crystal Palace
- Sky Sports Main Event: 14:00 GMT, Sunday
- Home 1/5 | Draw 6/1 | Away 11/1
Crystal Palace are tough to beat in Oliver Glasner’s well-drilled 5-4-1 formation, as Manchester City found out last weekend, although the way Phil Foden eventually solved the riddle should be instructive for Jurgen Klopp on Sunday.
The space is to be found between Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze, the two wide forwards expected to drop into a four-man midfield when Palace are sat in a low block. Foden discovered this in the second 45 when he stopped moving wide and started lurking in this space, twice receiving the ball to score in the half-spaces.
Liverpool don’t have a player like Foden. Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez tend to move into the channels, where Palace have a spare man (their back five allows a wing-back to step onto the forward, with a wide centre-back supporting behind), meaning it could be a bit of a slog at Anfield.
But from the bench, Harvey Elliot might make the difference. Repeatedly this season, Elliot has come on and moved elegantly through the right-hand half-space, adding urgency and directness to the Liverpool team. Should the hosts find themselves in need of a goal late on, Elliot is the right kind of player to find the gaps around Eze and create a match-winning moment.
Iraola’s high press v United’s empty midfield
- Bournemouth v Man Utd
- Sky Sports Main Event: 17:30 GMT, Saturday
- Home 7/5 | Draw 14/5 | Away 13/8
Andoni Iraola is exactly the right manager to punish Manchester United for their various (and baffling) flaws. He already did it once this season, winning 3-0 at Old Trafford in a game that followed exactly the tactical rhythm we expected.
Things have only got worse for Erik ten Hag since then. Man Utd are by far the worst coached team in the Premier League, playing essentially in a random formation with astonishingly large gaps between the lines; a press that is both improvised and enacted by fewer than half the players; and a two-man midfield that, with a slow Casemiro at its heart, leaves poor Kobbie Mainoo to wander around the pitch without support.
Bournemouth’s high press, hard work, and transition-heavy football should easily nick possession from these lost Man Utd players and allow them to stride through that empty central column of the pitch. Again, they’ve already done it once this season. The first goal in their 3-0 win was a high turnover in which Scott McTominay was caught on the ball, and the second was a quick counter-attack.
The football IQ from Illia Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi is top 🧠 pic.twitter.com/ONTxwNkTu9
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) December 10, 2023
Iraola’s side are top of the Premier League for attempted take-ons (730) while Man Utd have faced the second most attempted take-ons (666). Bournemouth are also in the top four for direct attacks (77) while Man Utd have allowed the third most progressive carries (729), behind only Sheffield United and West Ham United.
Even with Marcus Tavernier out injured, Bournemouth should have the pace and verticality required to cause serious damage.
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