by James O'Conners
In Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, Unai Emery handed Nicolas Pepe his first start for the Gunners alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but how did the African duo fare against the Reds?
As is so often the case for the big games, Emery decided to switch to a two-striker formation.
This time it was a 4-4-2 diamond as opposed to the 3-5-2 shape which the Spaniard has often used for the tougher clashes. That left no space for all of Pepe, Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, and the last of the three was the odd man out.
With a clear Arsenal plan of leaving their two speedsters high up the pitch and playing on the counter attack, both forwards looked suited to the task with their pace.
Pepe and ‘Auba’ played wide apart, in the space behind Liverpool’s very adventurous full-backs. With Jurgen Klopp’s men regularly pushing both Andrew Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold forward at the same time, it often left a two-versus-two on transitions.
Pepe was arguably the game’s biggest threat in the first half.
By the 34th minute, he had fluffed one shot, hit another straight at Liverpool goalkeeper, Adrian, curled an attempt narrowly wide with the goalkeeper beaten all-ends-up, and missed the away side’s best first half chance.
After a Liverpool corner had been cleared, both of the front two burst forward on the counter attack, Pepe dispossessed Jordan Henderson, beat Robertson with a dribble, but could only shoot straight at the goalkeeper when bearing down on goal.
The Ivory Coast forward should probably have used his right foot, but paid instead for scripting his attempt with his dominant side.
Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports during the interval how impressive he found Pepe’s first Arsenal start.
“In Pepe they’ve probably had the best player on the pitch,” the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder began. “They have got a special talent. I’ve been so impressed with him. He’s always looking to run off the shoulder, he’s causing mayhem.
“Virgil van Dijk has had problems all game.”
Aubameyang, on the other hand, had much less final third involvement in the first period.
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He did have a good chance of his own though as he lobbed wide of goal – he had led a counter attack, played a searching pass for Pepe, and then been gifted a chance by Adrian clearing the ball straight to him. His lack of touches was no surprise – Arsenal made 18 passes in the final third in the first half compared to just 128 from Klopp’s dominant charges.
Early in the second period, the front duo looked to have combined for a big chance on the break after excellent combination play; Aubameyang won the ball in his own half, Granit Xhaka sent Pepe scurrying away up the right, and he slid his partner through on goal. However, Joel Matip stormed across to make a last-ditch block. Despite a corner being given, replays showed any goal would have been disallowed for a narrow offside.
For the rest of the game, Liverpool had a comfortable lead and could sit a little deeper to limit the duo’s space. They tried swapping flanks to little effect, and with 80 minutes gone, Lacazette was thrown on for Joe Willock. The France striker clearly motioned for a front three with the starting pair moving into genuine winger roles.
There was still time for Aubameyang to set up Lucas Torreira’s consolation goal, although no assist was officially credited to the Gabon forward, with a deft pass inside to the onrushing Uruguayan, who finished well.
Overall, both African forwards had strong performances and with better first-half finishing, could have given Arsenal a lead and something to hold onto. Freed from their defensive duties, the pair could use their speed in wide open spaces, but they only really had each other to look for and arguably Arsenal’s best finisher was usually found with chalk on his boots on the left flank.
Whether this setup with the starting duo wide can work with Lacazette added in-between them is the big question.
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Both Pepe and Aubameyang would then be tasked with tracking the opposition fullbacks, at least on occasion, meaning the latter would need to sacrifice his excellent penalty-box finishing even more than in this game.
More likely is that Emery will only start the trio together on rare occasions, and even then probably only for a portion of the game before consolidating.
Pepe’s outing was particularly promising, as he completed seven dribbles.
Last season, Arsenal averaged only eight dribbles per Premier League match as a team, the 12th most in the division, and his arrival from Lille fills a gaping weakness in the side.
Aubameyang’s form against the rest of the big six for Arsenal has become a concern.
In 17 appearances and 1418 minutes in league and cup games, he had netted in just three matches against Arsenal’s rivals.
That is probably not a real surprise considering how often he has to play a wider, less effective role to accommodate his strike partners in these big matches.
Perhaps Emery would see an improvement in these games by playing the former Borussia Dortmund man down the middle. It’s unlikely we will see that any time soon, though.
Thankfully, for Emery at least, he has a team player who has formed a strong on-field relationship with Lacazette, has shown some early chemistry with Pepe, and has an understanding with Henrikh Mkhitaryan from their BVB days together.
He is unlikely to demand a central role or cause any problems for his coach, for Aubameyang, the team comes first.
