The Regista - Arsenal vs Aston Villa tactical review: As Arteta hesitated Emery's courage call earned visitors the win

Tribalfootball.com's tactics expert Connor Holden pulls apart Aston Villa's shock win at Arsenal on Sunday and says Mikel Artetals delaying of a crucial substitution cost the Gunners the points - and potentially the title...

Could this be the pivotal weekend for the title race? After seeing Liverpool lose to Crystal Palace, many thought Arsenal would go on to get three points at the Emirates, taking them to the top of the tree.

However their old friend Unai Emery had something in store for them, producing a 2-0 victory, and possibly scuppering the Gunners title hopes in the process. But just how did he and his Villa side achieve this?

NEGATING THE PRESS

This image shows what Unai Emery's build up strategy was, and we saw this come to fruition in the second half against the Gunners.

Aston Villa split their centre backs in build up, forcing the two Arsenal forwards (in a 4-4-2 press) to be further apart.

This would cause the Arsenal midfield two (Declan Rice + Kai Havertz) to jump up and support the press, leaving space for Morgan Rodgers and Ollie Watkins to drop into.

Villa set out with this game plan from the beginning, but a lack of executing balls between the lines, and a lack of courage stopped them in their tracks.

However in the second half, Watkins said after the game that Emery had told them to be brave on the ball, and find the passes into that area.

This meant one or both of the Arsenal central defenders had to jump up and close down the receiver, then creating space in behind for combination play.

Eventually, Villa started to find joy from this, and Arsenal softened their high press, falling into more of a mid block, where Emery's men were able to get a better foot hold of the game, take over