It leaves Bukayo Saka free on the far-side, but Liverpool having Virgil Van Dijk mark Martin Ødegaard instead of Joe Gomez when the ball is on Arsenal’s left side is the first domino to fall in a chain of events that led to the first goal.

This is from the FA Cup match on January 7th. When Joe Gomez moves inside, that allows left center-back Jarell Quansah to stay back behind, covering the space inside of Bukayo Saka on the far side.

When Jarell Quansah marks Martin Ødegaard instead, he moves forward, leaving a large space behind between Gomez and Konate for Arsenal to attack.

There’s space in the middle initially, and then Bukayo Saka is free on the far side when Joe Gomez moves to cover the space behind Quansah.

Van Dijk is marking Martin Ødegaard; again, there’s a space behind for Arsenal to attack.

Instead of attacking the wide area, like in the FA Cup, Kai Havertz chooses to attack the space central behind Virgil Van Dijk.

This clear pattern of space central is compounded by the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold jumps to attack the ball carrier, which then forces Ibrahima Konate to move wide to mark Gabriel Martinelli. Konate overcommitted a bit too wide.

Alexis Mac Allister doesn’t track Kai Havertz; he’s not necessarily supposed to. Virgil Van Dijk should simply stay behind and not jump.

The ball is played over the top from Ødegaard to Kai Havertz; they’re in a 3v2, and Bukayo Saka is free on the far side for the goal off the rebound.

A brilliant team goal from Arsenal that takes advantage of the space Liverpool allowed, but it’s a simple fix.

If Joe Gomez stays inside to mark Martin Ødegaard, Virgil Van Dijk can stay behind to cut off the space. You leave Bukayo Saka free, baiting the pass to him, but that’s less of a risk than leaving a large space free central or allowing Gabriel Martinelli to have a large amount of area to run onto on the left wing.

Match: Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool, 7 January 2024 — Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool, 4 February 2024