Manchester United paid for Erik ten Hag's caution at Arsenal. Graham Potter found a solution for Chelsea at Liverpool. And Frank Lampard's tactics were exposed at West Ham. Here's five lessons we learned from the latest round of the Premier League...
1) Odegaard dominates thanks to Ten Hag errors
Erik ten Hag got the tactical calls wrong in this match, and on another day Arsenal would have won convincingly. His decision to leave Fred on the bench and select a more attacking formation came as a surprise but ultimately there was logic to it, with Manchester United successfully pressing Arsenal in all areas of the pitch and bravely forcing the hosts to work hard for their victory.
However, it did not make sense for Scott McTominay to stick on Granit Xhaka, because it allowed Martin Odegaard to frequently run off the back of Christian Eriksen. United needed to man-mark Odegaard, or at least have a better plan for Arsenal's numerical advantage in midfield; with Oleksandr Zinchenko moving into the middle and Xhaka replacing him on the left, the visitors were pulled around too much.
Odegaard had far too much room – something Casemiro would not have allowed – and yet United still came close to holding out. Unfortunately Ten Hag also made the wrong decision up front, because by playing Wout Weghorst he limited his side's counter-attacking speed. They could have done with more moments like Marcus Rashford's goalscoring action, but were slowed down by Weghorst.
2) Ten Hag sends negative message with late substitution
As Arsenal increased the pressure through Odegaard, who in turn created lots of one-on-one moments on the flanks for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, it always looked as though they would eventually win the match. But when Lisandro Martinez scored a fairly lucky equaliser there was a temporary lull, and Ten Hag's reaction to this would seal his fate.
Instead of going for the kill, or at least keep the pressure on Arsenal, he took off Antony and replaced him with Fred, moving to a flat 4-5-1 with Bruno Fernandes on the right wing. This sent a message to his players that they should drop deeper and defend for their life, and arguably it was that negativity that set the pattern for the final ten minutes, giving Arsenal the confidence to rally one final time.
Ten Hag's first few 'Big Six' clashes have seen him abandon many of his tactical principles to set his team up on the back foot, but after being braver for the first 80 minutes at the Emirates here was proof that his side are ready to move to the next phase. That means more exciting United games to come.
3) Potter's tactical downgrade a call for patience
Chelsea were a little chaotic in their dull 0-0 draw with Liverpool, a match that had very few things of note until the introduction of Mykhailo Mudryk. Jurgen Klopp, aware that his midfielders don't have the legs for the high press anymore, sat Liverpool deeper than usual, which had the effect of nullifying Chelsea's patient possession and lack of penetration in the final third.
That was all as expected, but more interesting was the way Mudryk changed the game. Chelsea had been playing a hybrid 3-4-3/4-4-2 formation that swung on Lewis Hall's positioning; he was in central midfield when Chelsea had possession, only to shift out to the left to create the 4-4-2 when Liverpool were pushing back. When Mudryk came on, Potter moved to a simple 4-3-3 that did not change shape, putting Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher as the two eights and Hakim Ziyech into a traditional winger role.
Potter realises that his complex shape-shifting tactics are taking a while to be absorbed, leading to some hesitancy amid the confusion and a lack of goalmouth action. By downgrading the system into something a bit more normal, he unleashed greater attacking energy, almost stealing the points. The lesson, perhaps, is that Chelsea need to learn to walk before they can run.
4) Everton's hapless 3-4-3 shows they need a stricter coach
There was no such lesson from West Ham's 2-0 win over Everton, a game that followed a predictable pattern. West Ham don't let you sit deep, encouraging pressure and waiting for their own counter-attacking chances, which meant Everton's greatest weapon – their speed on the break – was counteracted.
More than that, West Ham simply out-played the visitors by noticing the gaps in defence and exploiting them. Frank Lampard's formations have always been ropey and lacking in detail, to the extent that you can predict the flaws just from the line-up: the clichéd weak points of a given formation always corresponded to his Everton's performances. In this case, it was a 3-4-3, which meant the gap between the advancing wing-back and outside centre-back was too wide.
Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio repeatedly found space to drive into here, as James Tarkowski struggled to deal with the pair on his own. Everton are now searching for a new manager, and one thing is clear: they need a strict, detailed tactician to organise a defence that has been left to drift under Lampard.
5) Villa's system needs tweaking for possession-heavy games
Aston Villa were fortunate to take the three points from a very boring game at St. Mary's that followed the predicted tactical pattern. Nathan Jones historically plays an attacking of football that presses from the front, but already under pressure has reverted to a more conservative setup that looks to use the best parts of Ralph Hasenhuttl's coaching.
On Saturday, that meant allowing Villa to hog the ball (something Unai Emery does not want to do) as their midfield and forward lines surrounded Villa's metronomic pair Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara. This created a stalemate as Villa were forced to pass back and forth, unable to break the lines or get their forwards into the game.
It is increasingly clear that for all Emery's strengths, he needs to come up with a better system for when Villa are given the majority of possession. Currently their passing lanes are improvised and, as a result, too slow to break down a stubborn defence.
