Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will host Premier League leaders Liverpool this weekend.
The gunners have bounced back from a shock defeat to Bournemouth last weekend with a win in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Arsenal beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 at the Emirates, and the match could have easily ended with more goals if the gunners took their chances.
Despite Arsenal having most of the ball, and creating the most chances, Shakhtar boss Marino Pusic does not believe his side deserved to lose.
Mikel Arteta now has two wins and one draw in his first three Champions League games this season. Arsenal have also kept a clean sheet for the first time in three games.
Shakhtar boss explains tactical change that surprised Mikel Arteta and Arsenal
Despite losing the game, the Ukraine side had a flurry of chances in the last minutes. Arsenal were on the ropes for quite a few minutes, and it took a brilliant save from David Raya to keep the scores level.
After the game, Pusic explained what he changed that led to his side dominating the last 20 minutes:
“First of all, we like the build-up – building attacks from deep, getting players into good positions. We did not manage it very well in the first half: maybe there were two or three good opportunities to create something, but we did not do enough, in my opinion.”
Arsenal dominated the first half and could have scored more goals, something Pusic addressed in his interview.
The second half would definitely be something Liverpool boss Arne Slot and his analysts would look at. Puši? and Slot worked together at Feyenoord when they lifted the Eredivisie in the 2022/23 season. The two coaches would definitely discuss tactics ahead of the Reds facing Arsenal this weekend.
Attacking change overwhelmed the gunners
According to SofaScore, Arsenal conceded 0.57 expected goals in the second half compared to just 0.13 in the first half.
Pusic explained that his attacking changes were the key:
“Well, with the way we played in the second half, I think we deserved it for sure. We were not always lucky or good in finishing to create more chances, but there were several moments. I would say it was very close and we chased that equaliser until the end of the game. This is what I asked from my team and how I made the substitutions: I put all our attacking forces in the game.”
Arsenal held firm to see out a 1-0 win after struggling at the end of the game. Their performance reflects Mikel Arteta’s words to the players after the Bournemouth game.