Tactics Column: Aggressive press and Hincapie tweak the keys against Villa

A game of two halves? Not quite. Arsenal finished 2025 with a resounding 4-1 win over Aston Villa that has, in wider discussion, largely been broken into a strong first half from the visitors and a dominant second half from the Premier League leaders.

Mikel Arteta didn’t seem to see it like that, though, and re-watching the game it’s easy to see why.

“We struggled in the first 10 minutes, arriving a bit late. They were playing through us and creating some open space situations that...