Arsenal Formation and Tactics Under Mikel Arteta

Arsenal formation — tactical board

How Arteta builds Arsenal's 4-3-3

The nominal shape is a 4-3-3: Raya behind a back four of Calafiori, Gabriel, Saliba and Timber, a midfield three of Zubimendi, Rice and Eze, and a front three of Trossard, Gyökeres and Saka. It rarely stays that way for long. In settled possession the back four becomes a 3-2 base — Gabriel, Saliba and Timber hold the first line while the left-back steps into the left half-space beside Zubimendi — and the shape reads as a 3-2-5 with both wingers pinned to the touchlines.

Build-up starts with Raya, who is used as a genuine first passer rather than a safety valve, and runs through Zubimendi, whose line-breaking range is what allows Rice to take a much higher position. Width comes from the wingers, not the full-backs: Trossard holds the left touchline and Saka the right, both staying wide to pin the opposition's last line. Timber is the exception — he advances high and underlaps or overlaps around Saka to make the right side a three.

Out of possession the front three and Eze rearrange into a 4-4-2: Gyökeres and Eze form the first line, the wingers drop and narrow, and Zubimendi screens in front of a defensive line that holds high enough to compress the pitch. The trigger is a backward or square pass into a full-back, which the near winger and striker attack together. When the press is beaten, Saliba's recovery pace is the insurance, and Rice drops back into the pivot to rebuild the block.

The tactical units

1. Goalkeeper

   On the pitch: David Raya

   Raya is picked as much for his feet as his hands. He takes the ball short from goal kicks, invites pressure to open a passing lane into Zubimendi, and steps well off his line to sweep the space the high defensive line leaves behind. He started 37 of the 38 league games in 2025/26 and kept nineteen clean sheets, a third consecutive Golden Glove, behind the division's meanest defence, so his volume of first passes matters more than his volume of saves.

2. Back four

   On the pitch: Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, Jurriën Timber

   Calafiori is the reason the line is drawn asymmetrically: for much of a possession he is not at left-back but inverted into the left half-space as the fourth man in a box midfield. Gabriel then covers the left channel, Saliba the centre and Timber the right, giving the situational back three Arteta wants. The slot was shared: Calafiori made 22 league starts, Piero Hincapié 20, and Hincapié started there in the EFL Cup and Champions League finals. Gabriel is a corner threat, and Saliba's pace licenses the high line.

3. Midfield three

   On the pitch: Declan Rice, Martín Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze

   The three are staggered rather than flat. Zubimendi sits deepest and dictates tempo; Rice plays to his left but much higher than a second holding midfielder would, working between the opposition lines and arriving late in the box; Eze is the nominal number ten who drifts consistently into the right inside channel, where he shares space with Saka and the advancing Timber.

4. Front three

   On the pitch: Leandro Trossard, Viktor Gyökeres, Bukayo Saka

   Trossard and Saka hold the touchlines to stretch the last line and keep the central lanes free for Eze and Rice. Gyökeres is the reference point: he positions between, beside or beyond the centre-backs and attacks any ball played in behind, which is why the crosses arrive early and flat rather than floated. He was Arsenal's leading league scorer with fourteen goals. Out of possession the trio narrows into the 4-4-2 block.

Key player relationships

David Raya → Martín Zubimendi — Builds play through

Raya's short goal kicks are an invitation: Arsenal want the opposition to commit a presser so that the pass into Zubimendi arrives with the first line already broken. The pivot is the first reference point once the ball leaves the goalkeeper, and the shape is arranged to keep a passing angle open to him.

Riccardo Calafiori ↔ Martín Zubimendi — Inverts alongside

This is the movement the whole shape is built around. Calafiori leaves the left-back slot and takes a position beside Zubimendi, turning the back four into a 3-2 base and giving Arsenal a four-man box in midfield that most opponents cannot match numerically.

Riccardo Calafiori → Leandro Trossard — Creates space for

Because Calafiori comes inside rather than overlapping, the entire left channel is left to Trossard, who can receive facing the pitch with a full run-up at the touchline. It is the inverse of the right side, where Timber advances and Saka works off him.

William Saliba → Gabriel Magalhães — Covers

Gabriel is the aggressive half of the partnership, stepping in front of a striker and attacking crosses; Saliba is the one who sweeps behind him. That division of labour is what makes a high line workable against a side that wants to run in behind it rather than play in front of it.

William Saliba → Jurriën Timber — Covers

Timber spends long spells of possession level with the midfield, so Saliba slides across to hold the right side of the back three. Without that shuffle, the space Timber vacates would be the obvious counter-attacking route against a defence pushed this high.

Jurriën Timber ↔ Eberechi Eze — Links play

Eze does not stay central. He drifts into the right inside channel, and Timber's advanced position gives him a short passing option on the outside while occupying the full-back who would otherwise step out. The two exchange the ball to pull an opposition midfielder wide.

Jurriën Timber → Bukayo Saka — Underlaps

Saka holds the touchline, so Timber's runs go inside him rather than round him, into the gap between full-back and centre-back. It gives Saka a decision every time he receives: cut inside himself, or release the underlap and attack the cut-back.

Declan Rice → Gabriel Magalhães — Delivers corners to

Rice is one of Arsenal's two corner takers, and his delivery is the version aimed at the six-yard box: Timber headed in a Rice corner to win the home league match against Chelsea in March. Gabriel attacks the same zone, and his stoppage-time header at Newcastle in September came from a corner as well.

Declan Rice ↔ Leandro Trossard — Combines with

With Calafiori inside, the left flank belongs to a pair rather than a trio. Rice arrives from the left half-space to give Trossard a bounce pass and a third-man option, then continues past him into the penalty area as a late runner the covering midfielder has to track.

Martín Zubimendi → Declan Rice — Frees

A specialist single pivot rewrites the job of the eight beside him. With Zubimendi holding that position and screening the counter, Rice no longer has to sit; he plays higher, between the lines, and gets into the penalty area as a late-arriving eight.

Eberechi Eze ↔ Bukayo Saka — Rotates with

The right side works as a rotation rather than fixed positions. When Eze pushes into the channel Saka comes inside to receive between the lines, and when Saka takes the touchline Eze occupies the space he leaves. Defenders have to choose which one to follow.

Eberechi Eze ↔ Viktor Gyökeres — Presses with

Out of possession Arsenal drop into a 4-4-2 and these two become the first line. The trigger is a pass back or square into a centre-back or full-back: Gyökeres shows one way and Eze arrives on the second pass, which is how Arsenal win possession high.

Leandro Trossard → Viktor Gyökeres — Supplies crosses

Trossard is the constant on the left touchline, and the delivery is aimed early rather than hung up: Gyökeres attacks the ball on the move, so a flat cross arriving before the defence resets is worth more to him than a floated one to the far post.

Bukayo Saka → Gabriel Magalhães — Delivers corners to

Saka is Arsenal's other corner taker, and Gabriel is one of several players attacking the goalkeeper's zone from his delivery. Saka's corners produced Timber's header against Bayern Munich and both goals in the December win over Wolves, each turned in by a Wolves player. Two takers of that standard let Arsenal load either side without changing the routine.

Tactical strengths

• Set pieces function as a second attack, coached as a separate phase by Nicolas Jover, with two corner takers and several targets who score from them.
• Zubimendi gives the side a specialist single pivot, which lets Rice attack the penalty area without leaving the rest-defence short.
• The 3-2 build-up base creates a box midfield that outnumbers most opposition midfields before the ball is moved forward.
• Both wingers stay wide, so the pitch is stretched horizontally and the central lanes stay open for arriving midfielders.
• Squad depth was real rather than nominal: thirty-one players featured, and Madueke, Martinelli and Merino rotated in without the shape changing.
• Saliba's recovery pace makes the high defensive line sustainable against direct opponents.

Tactical weaknesses

• The inverted left-back vacates the left channel, and a quick switch into that space is the obvious way to turn Arsenal round.
• The defensive line sits high by design, so a striker willing to run the channels can isolate one centre-back with a single long pass.
• If the first press is played through, everything funnels onto Zubimendi, who started 34 of the 38 league games while his specialist understudy Christian Nørgaard started one.
• Against a genuine low block the team can settle for circulation and crosses, leaning on set pieces to break the deadlock.
• The third midfield slot was never settled: Eze started 21 league games to club captain Martin Ødegaard's 16, and the creative pattern changes depending on which of them plays.

Famous tactical characteristics

The 3-2 build-up base

Arsenal's default in possession is not a back four. The left-back steps out of the defensive line into the left half-space, Gabriel and Saliba shift across, Timber holds the right, and the result is three defenders behind two midfielders. The box in front of them — the inverted full-back, Zubimendi, Rice and Eze — outnumbers most Premier League midfields.

Corners as a scoring system

Under set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, Arsenal treat dead balls as a distinct phase with its own personnel and rehearsed routines. Rice and Saka provide the delivery from either side, and the threat is spread rather than concentrated on one head. All four of Jurriën Timber's goals in 2025/26 came from corners — two against Leeds, one from Rice's delivery against Chelsea, one from Saka's against Bayern Munich — and Gabriel Magalhães headed in a stoppage-time corner at Newcastle.

Pressing in waves from a 4-4-2

The press is organised rather than individual. Gyökeres and Eze form a front pair, the wingers narrow into a midfield four, and pressure arrives in coordinated waves instead of one chaser. The output is defensive rather than spectacular: Arsenal conceded 27 league goals in 2025/26, the fewest in the division, and Raya's nineteen clean sheets won him a third consecutive Golden Glove. The press is judged on what it prevents rather than on what it wins back.

Zubimendi as the licence for Rice

Signing a specialist single pivot changed two players at once. Zubimendi dictates tempo and breaks lines from deep, and because he holds that position alone, Rice is released to play as a genuine attacking eight — higher, between the lines, arriving in the box. Rice still drops into the pivot when Arsenal lose the ball.

Asymmetric flanks

The two sides are deliberately different. On the left, the full-back comes inside and Trossard owns the touchline alone, supported by Rice arriving from the half-space. On the right, Saka stays wide while Timber advances to underlap and Eze drifts across to make a three. One flank is a duo, the other a trio.

Make it your own

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Related formations

• Manchester City Formation: Guardiola's 4-2-3-1

  Both sides invert a full-back into midfield, but City build the 3-2-5 by rule where Arsenal reach it situationally

• Chelsea Formation: The 4-2-3-1 and Its Rotations

  A second Premier League page for contrast: how another possession-first side resolves width and midfield control

• Spain Formation and Tactics Under Luis de la Fuente

  Martín Zubimendi and David Raya do comparable jobs for Spain in a shape built on the same pivot principles

Frequently asked questions

What formation does Arsenal play?

Arsenal's usual shape in 2025/26 was a 4-3-3, with a 4-2-3-1 as the regular alternative — the shape they used in both the EFL Cup final and the Champions League final. In possession the 4-3-3 becomes a 3-2-5 as the left-back steps into midfield; without the ball it drops into a compact 4-4-2.

Who plays in Arsenal's 4-3-3?

Arteta rotated heavily, but the recognisable 2025/26 eleven was David Raya in goal; Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba and Jurriën Timber across the back; Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze in midfield; and Leandro Trossard, Viktor Gyökeres and Bukayo Saka in attack. Calafiori and Piero Hincapié shared the left-back slot between them.

Why are Arsenal so dangerous from corners?

Set pieces are coached as a separate phase by Nicolas Jover, with Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka taking the corners from either side and several players attacking the same zones. All four of Jurriën Timber's goals in 2025/26 came from corners, and Gabriel Magalhães headed in a stoppage-time corner at Newcastle.