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Alright so here’s what went down when I tried figuring out the best way for Arsenal to handle Liverpool. Felt like digging a ditch sometimes, but gotta share the messy bits too.
Starting Simple
First thing, I booted up FIFA 23. Yeah, I know, not the real thing, but helps visualize. Looked at both teams’ standard setups. Liverpool loves that high press, like hungry wolves going after meat. Arsenal usually builds from the back calmly. I thought, right, let’s see what happens if we just roll with the normal Arteta way against them.
Set Arsenal in our usual 4-3-3:
- Gabriel & Saliba centre backs
- Rice sitting deep alone
- Ødegaard & Havertz ahead
- Saka left, Martinelli right, Jesus up top
Tried this for like, 5 in-game matches against Liverpool’s strongest preset. Total mess! Their press just swamped Rice. Felt like throwing a kid into a mosh pit. Gabriel kept losing the ball under pressure, passes going haywire. Liverpool scored easy breakaways twice every single game. Clearly, doing the usual thing got us murdered.
Tweaking Things Up
Okay, Plan B. Needed more solidity. Remembered seeing Zinchenko tuck inside sometimes. Decided to force that. Switched to a kind of 3-2-5 when attacking, but structured more defensively starting out:
- Ben White stayed back as a proper right centre back alongside Saliba & Gabriel. No risky runs forward.
- Shoved Rice AND Jorginho together as double-pivots. Two rocks in front of the defence.
- Let Zinchenko drift inside like a weird midfielder-fielder hybrid.
- Ødegaard still floating, but told him to track back HARD on Liverpool’s right side.
- Saka upfront right, Martinelli left, Jesus central.
Played another 5 matches like this. Night and day! Felt way safer. That double pivot shut down the middle. Jorginho acted like a noisy traffic cop, intercepting passes and yelling instructions. Rice cleaned up everything loose. The first game? We actually won 1-0! Felt smug for a minute.
But then… problems. Attacking felt dead clumsy. Saka got double-teamed constantly with White stuck back. Zinchenko drifting in left big spaces for Trent Alexander-Arnold to exploit. Liverpool started finding gaps, especially out wide, pulling goals back in most matches. Drew some, lost some. Defence sorted, attack broken. Half a win, not good enough.
Pushing The Attack (And Facing Flames)
Right, needed goals without losing our new defensive wall. Third try. Kept the double pivot (Rice & Jorginho), kept the back three (Gabriel, Saliba, White). But changed the roles upfront:
- Pulled Martinelli slightly deeper as a left midfielder. Made him track Trent like crazy.
- Pushed Zinchenko much higher, almost like a left winger.
- Told Ødegaard to forget defensive work for a bit – focused him purely on creating chaos between Liverpool’s midfield and defence.
- Left Saka glued high on the right touchline to stretch them.
- Jesus stayed central but played deeper, linking passes like glue.
Initial vibe? Electric! Ødegaard found SO much space threading passes. Jesus dropping deep messed with Van Dijk. Zinchenko high left created overloads, Saka roasted Robertson a couple times. Scored some beauties. Felt like genius mode.
Then reality hit. Liverpool countered HARD down that left side where Zinchenko pushed up. Martinelli ran himself ragged covering, but one bad pass… boom, Salah through. High risk. Won some high-scoring games 3-2, got absolutely hammered 4-1 when Martinelli tired. So. Much. End-to-end chaos. My heart couldn’t take it.
The Verdict? Messy Compromise
After all that fiddling, here’s the ugly truth:
- NEVER leave Rice alone. Liverpool’s press eats solo anchors for breakfast.
- Jorginho pairing with Rice is safety first, MUST for stability.
- But that kills attacking width on the right, neutering Saka. Big price.
- Going aggressive to free attackers leaves huge gaps Liverpool WILL punish.
Honestly? My “best” setup felt like the boring double pivot shape. Sacrifice Saka’s full threat, focus Ødegaard and Jesus creating through the middle, hope the defence holds. Grind out a dirty 1-0 or 1-1. It felt wrong ignoring Saka, but leaving the back exposed felt suicidal. Pick your poison, I guess. Football sometimes ain’t pretty. Gonna need the actual players to be absolute heroes either way.