‘Here’s how Leeds could’ve stopped Arsenal set-piece dominance’, Daniel Farke’s coaches need to take notice

Arsenal took full advantage of their staggeringly good set-pieces again as they beat Leeds United on Saturday.

In a stunning response to last week’s loss to Man United, Arsenal beat Leeds 4-0 at Elland Road in a dominant display.

Martin Zubimendi opened the scoring in the first half, before Karl Darlow managed to palm Noni Madueke’s corner into his own net before the break.

Viktor Gyokeres added a third in the second half, before Gabriel Jesus rounded off the scoring with a clever turn and strike into the bottom corner.

It was not quite the perfect day for Arsenal, however, with Mikel Arteta confirming that Bukayo Saka felt a slight injury in the warm-up.

Shay Given reveals how Leeds United could have stopped Arsenal

There are not many teams in the Premier League who can claim to have stopped Arsenal from set-pieces this season.

Leeds are certainly not one of them, with the Gunners’ first-half goals adding to the two they scored against the Whites in August’s 5-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The first did not come directly from the corner, but rather the follow-up. Madueke‘s initial effort was only headed as far as Declan Rice, who found the winger with an opportunity to cross once again.

Leeds’ defensive structure appeared to fall apart completely as the ball was cleared out, with Zubimendi left to nod in with a completely uncontested header, as three white shirts marked space behind him.

And the second was not much better from the home side’s perspective, with Darlow and Dominic Calvert-Lewin getting in each other’s way as they attempted to deal with Madueke’s corner.

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Shay Given had some thoughts on how Leeds could have coped better.

“I’m just thinking, how do you release the numbers, make some more space in the box,” the former goalkeeper explained.

“If Leeds leave three up, just for example, Arsenal are going to need to leave at least three, if not four players back to defend their set-play.

“So what that does now, in the Leeds defending box, is a lot more space – both for the goalkeeper and the defenders to go and head it.

“Yes, people will say there’s more space for the attackers as well, but a part of all of those numbers in the box is causing so much confusion, defending corners, and I just wish a coach would go: ‘You know what? We’ll leave three up, what are Arsenal going to do?’

“Ask a question of Arsenal, what are they going to do, because every team seems to do the same thing and they keep conceding, so it’s just something to think about.”

Monaco pulled off Given’s tactic

The most notable example of a team having an answer to Arsenal’s set-piece dominance was when Monaco defended them well in the Champions League last season.

The French side did as Given suggested, and left three attackers near the halfway line, to which the Gunners were forced to respond by leaving three of their own back.

Arsenal would win the game 3-0 anyway, but claimed all three of their goals from open play.

However, there are a few caveats. That day, Arteta was lacking his set-piece goal machine in Gabriel, who seems to create danger even if he does not get to the ball.

The second point is to note the man in the Arsenal dugout. Nicolas Jover is the man credited with the Gunners’ set-piece magic, and there is no doubt that he already has a plan for every possible defence against it.

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