Arsenal Football Formation

Starting Lineup

David Raya (Illan Meslier) · Gabriel Magalhães (Tarik Muharemović) · William Saliba (Ezri Konsa) · Riccardo Calafiori (Piero Hincapié) · Jurriën Timber (Ben White) · Declan Rice (Alex Scott) · Myles Lewis-Skelly (Bruno Guimarães) · Désiré Doué (Christos Tzolis) · Bukayo Saka (Noni Madueke) · Kai Havertz (Nicolò Tresoldi) · Martin Ødegaard (Nico Paz)

Arsenal focuses on a high press and controlling the ball through a 4-3-3. The lineup is designed to win it back high up the pitch and use quick passing to move the opposition around. This formation allows for intense pressure while keeping enough bodies back to stop breaks.

David Raya starts between the posts to play out from the back. The back four uses a high line to squeeze the space in the middle of the pitch. William Saliba acts as a ball playing defender who can cover large areas of grass, while Gabriel Magalhães provides aerial strength and physical presence to defend zonally. Jurriën Timber provides defensive stability at right back, whereas Riccardo Calafiori operates as an attacking left back to help progress through the thirds.

The midfield works as a three-man midfield with a carrier and a creator. Declan Rice acts as the single pivot to shield the defence and win the second ball. Myles Lewis-Skelly works to connect the defensive and attacking lines by carrying the ball forward into space. Martin Ødegaard plays as the attacking ten behind the striker, looking to find the feet of the striker or play through the lines with his vision and passing range.

Arsenal uses three attackers across the front to stretch the defence. Kai Havertz plays as a pressing centre-forward who holds up the ball and creates space for others. Bukayo Saka operates as an inverted winger on the right who likes to cut inside and attack the near post. Désiré Doué plays on the left as an inverted winger to pull wide and create overloads, which helps the team build in triangles.

This formation offers the ability to press high in coordinated waves to force a long ball from the opposition. Arsenal can also create wide overloads when the full backs push up to overlap the winger. These movements help to isolate wide players in one on one situations during the transition.

The tactical identity of Arsenal is built on high intensity and ball retention. This formation is best suited for games where the team needs to dominate possession against a low block.