Three Aston Villa players were positioning themselves in line in front of Bukayo Saka to not allow him to attack at his favored angle without abandoning marking him while tracking the underlapping or overlapping run of an Arsenal midfielder or Ben White.

There were always at least two players out to mark Bukayo Saka every time he received the ball, but they marked him in an unorthodox way.

One defender would go out to challenge him from a distance, and then another would pull up behind the first defender. That second defender would move in line with the first defender. Those two defenders do three things.

Saka likes to receive and then drive forward at an angle. That second defender is key to stopping that run forward because, by positioning himself in line with the first defender, he stands directly in the path of Saka if he were to attempt to dribble forward immediately after receiving the ball, after passing and moving, or during a one-two.

It is like an invisible wall has been put up. It looks like he can attack that space because they are giving him space, but once he does, they collapse, and he has nowhere to go.

The second thing it does is that it somewhat neutralizes the overlapping and underlapping runs into that zone on the edge or inside the box, where White, Saka, and Ødegaard like to cross from.

A third defender joins, and then those three defenders divide the wing into three parts. If one of White, Saka, Ødegaard, or someone else attempts to make a run behind into that zone, one of those defenders can track their run. But they don’t have to immediately move to track them. They let them make the run and tried to draw them offside with the rest of the defense.

The third thing this does is that it cuts off the pass to center-forward Kai Havertz when he comes over to help.

If any of those players breaks past those three defenders and they don’t trigger an offside, all three defenders and the left center-back can collapse on the ball, Their position further away from Saka, divided into those two or three separate sections, allows them to quickly collapse and constrict the play until they win back the ball, force Arsenal into a rushed cross that may go out for a corner, or force them back.

It wasn’t until the second half, when that second defender wasn’t as disciplined in positioning in line with the first defender, allowing Havertz to sneak in or Saka to make a run into that zone from his favored angle, that Arsenal began to create their usual meaningful chances, which ultimately led to goals.

Match: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal, 24 August 2024