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Arsenal forward Theo Walcott admitted that Tottenham decision to shuffle their formation and deploy three central defenders took the Gunners by surprise, despite Arsene Wenger insisting after the north London derby that he was ready for the switch.
The first clash of the season between the two rivals ended in a 1-1 stalemate , with Walcott seeing his closest chance to add to the scoreline cannon off the post after a fierce shot when veering away from goal. Spurs also had their chances to win the derby, with Arsenal struggling for penetration in the second half after missing chance before the break.
It led to questions thrown at Wenger afterwards in his post-match press conference regarding Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical switch, with the Argentine deploying a 3-4-3 for just the second time during his Spurs tenure after the clash with Watford last December, but while the Frenchman insisted he was prepared for the possibility of a change, it appears Walcott was not.
Asked if it took him by surprise, Walcott told BT Sport : “Yeah, it did completely to be honest. Middlesbrough did that against us and you now see a lot of teams doing that. Chelsea are probably the best at doing it right now.
“It was difficult to break down but it was one of those games where there weren’t many chances,” he added.
“I think Tottenham and ourselves had good periods in the game. But we didn’t manage to finish our chances or create as much as we’d like to. Maybe when we look back it will be a good result in the end.”
Show all 22 1 /22Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Bernd Leno - 5/10 Has been really good since replacing Petr Cech in net but today won’t be a day he looks back on fondly (on a personal level anyway). He should’ve done much better with Spurs’ equaliser and that goal cost Arsenal their momentum in the game. He did make some good stops, mind.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Shkodran Mustafi - 6 An uncomfortable performance from Mustafi. Always looks like he’s going to score a goal going forward but his defending is suspect and got too tight to Kane quite often.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 7 A slightly better performance than his central defensive partner but there’s not much in it, really.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Rob Holding - 5 Much improved player but like Leno, a huge error in decision-making cost his side a goal. Slid in on Son for the second goal and despite the limited contact, it was a ridiculous tackle to make.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Hector Bellerin - 7 A threatening performance going forward and can’t really blame himself for anything defensively in the game.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Lucas Torreira - 8 He’s certainly what Arsenal have been missing for the last few years with a bit of grit and determination in the heart of midfield. Scored the fourth goal of the game which was an absolute beauty.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Granit Xhaka - 7 Strangely enough, Xhaka was a bit of a passenger and that’s unusual for him as he’s normally involved, one way or another. Didn’t make any errors either though so that’s got to be considered a good day.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Sead Kolasinac - 8 The Bosnian full back, like his Spanish counterpart on the right hand side, was fantastic. A constant menace to that Spurs back line and sent in some delightful crosses.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 7 He was one of the key reasons Arsenal came storming out of the blocks early in the first half but he slowly laboured and lost his impact on proceedings and was replaced at half time.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 9 Scored the penalty that gave Arsenal the lead and chased a lot of causes down both wings. Will be remembered for his second goal which was a little bit special. The curl on the ball and the way Lloris stood to watch it fly past was glorious. Assisted the fourth goal with a classy pass to put the icing on the cake.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Alex Iwobi - 5 The least threatening of the forward players and his decision making often let him down, too slow to react to potentially promising situations. Replaced at half time by Lacazette.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Hugo Lloris - 7 Made some crucial saves during Arsenal’s early onslaught and was quick to come off his line at the key times. Conceded four times but didn’t really deserve it.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Serge Aurier - 6 Was a physically distressed figure after the first 20 minutes and was taken apart on Arsenal’s left hand side. Improved as the match went on but always seems to be playing games on the edge.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Juan Foyth - 5 Not brilliant himself and has been another player who plays on the edge, and always looks like making a rash decision. Nothing particularly bad this afternoon but the first 20 minutes were enough to wobble any defender. Improved in the second half with some key interceptions.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Jan Vertonghen - 4 Has reason to be rather unhappy with his return to the starting line up, giving a penalty away for a needless handball and simply being rather unnerving to watch at the back. Unusual for him. Arsenal rampant against him. Shown a red card with 5 minutes to go to top off a bad day.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Ben Davies - 6 Not a particular threat going forward but nor was he ripped to shreds like his fellow full back partner. Didn’t add too much to proceedings though, either. Taken off for Rose in the latter stages.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Eric Dier - 7 A typically gritty performance from Dier who received his customary yellow card but also scored a goal to silence to the Emirates. Sadly for him, it didn’t last.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Moussa Sissoko - 5 He’s one of Spurs’ most improved players recently but today wasn’t his finest. Struggled to dominate the midfield.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Christian Eriksen - 7 Set up the equaliser with a fabulous free-kick, curled in perfectly and low. Otherwise played some neat passes in key areas but fpund himself on the back foot for a lot of the game.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Dele Alli - 5 Like Eriksen, struggled to really impose himself on the game, and unlike Eriksen, didn’t make a meaningful difference to proceedings but did get himself a yellow card.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Harry Kane - 6 Scored the penalty and potentially had a good 5 minutes in the game but rarely threatened the Arsenal goal.
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Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Son Heung-min - 7 Won the penalty to give Spurs the halftime lead, as well as winning the free-kick that enabled them to equalise. However, he squandered a number of chances, too.
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Wenger was a bit more prepared for the three-man defence, although he was still left frustrated by Arsenal’s inability to double their lead after Kevin Wimmer’s own goal.
“We know how to play against a back three,” Wenger said. “We knew they could play with a back three. That wasn't the basic problem. It was in other areas. I wasn't really surprised [they played it].”
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