The next round of Premier League fixtures is here and this weekend Arsenal face Swansea City away from home. The Gunners head into the game after a bitterly disappointing result against Sheffield Wednesday during their midweek Capital One Cup clash. However, prior to that fixture Arsene Wenger’s side had been in a rich run of form and so will be looking to regather their strength and reclaim their form. The Swans have endured a rougher start to the Premier League than the Gunners and currently sit twelfth in the table. However, they beat Aston Villa in their last game to recuperate some confidence and will be looking to utilise this against Arsenal.
There have been two players that have stood out for Garry Monk’s side so far this season. The first of the two is new boy Andre Ayew – who has brought energy and trickery to Swansea and proven a handful for most Premier League sides. The 25-year-old has been in blistering form, having scored five goals in ten appearances, the latest of which helped to secure a win over Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa; a side boasting his brother Jordan Ayew. The Ghanaian is very tricky on the ball and isn’t afraid to run at defenders or try a shot from distance. Therefore, he will prove to be a real challenge for the Arsenal defence who looked more than desperate against Sheffield Wednesday. To combat Ayew, it is imperative that firstly the Gunners’ defence shields him away from goal and out wide so that his impact is limited. If he is stuck on the wings for the majority of the game then he will be reduced to crosses. If he is able to cut inside of either of the full-backs then the centre-backs must step up and halt his progress. He cannot be allowed to skip past both the full-back and the supporting centre-back, if he does then he will get a shot off and trouble Petr Cech.
The other player who has shone for Swansea this season is Bafetimbi Gomis. The Frenchman didn’t have the most convincing of debut seasons for Swansea last year; only scoring ten times in 36 appearances, but did impress when Wilfried Bony moved on to Manchester City. Nevertheless, he has bounced back this season and shown the Premier League what he can do. So far, he has scored four goals in nine appearances which have contributed to helping Swansea maintain their mid-table position. The 30-year-old is a big, strong attacker who excels at holding off defenders and then running past them to latch onto through balls. As such, it is vital that the defensive midfielders in the Arsenal side stop the ball from reaching him. If they don’t allow any and all passes that are aimed at him then his supply will be cut off, forcing him to come deeper and won’t pose as much of a threat to Petr Cech’s goal.
Going forward, the Gunners need to massively step up their game compared to how they played at Hillsborough on Tuesday. They need to attack with pace and utilise their immense passing ability to force Swansea players out of the game. If Arsenal are going to cross, they must only do it when Olivier Giroud is playing. Too often this season we have seen crosses fly in, only for Theo Walcott to be too small to reach them. Sadly, Walcott picked up an injury against the Owls and so is likely to be unavailable for this weekend’s clash. As a result, the Gunners must alter their game plan. They need to utilise the wings and play balls into the penalty area; this is where the Frenchman is most lethal. The full-backs need to be encouraged to offer supporting runs for the attackers so that they overlap the attackers and steam past the Swansea defenders.
Overall, this game should prove a test for the Gunners as to whether they can bounce straight back from their shock League Cup defeat. Realistically, they should be beating Swansea and if they have any aspirations of winning the Premier League, then they must win the game to keep the pressure on Manchester City who only lead on goal difference.
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