Arsenal’s victory over Newcastle highlighted that Mikel Arteta is finding similar success to Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel when it comes to his wide defenders being creative outlets.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Nuno Tavares assisted both goals in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against the Magpies on Saturday afternoon.
Chelsea's wing-backs have been an overwhelming success this season, with right-back Reece James currently the club’s top scorer.
Ben Chilwell has also chipped in with vital goals to help the Blues sit at the top of the Premier League and the England international's injury absence could be keenly felt.
Despite this being an unconventional way of finding the net, it is certainly a plan that works and Arteta can start to utilize it more.
James and Chilwell contributed to 12 of Chelsea's 30 Premier League goals so far this campaign.
While Tavares and Tomiyasu only achieved their first goal contributions of the season on Saturday, it is a statistic both full-backs should look to build on.
Arsenal’s attack looked stale at times against Newcastle as the Magpies’ defence was very rigid and difficult to break down.
A stalemate looked likely as the match reached half-time without the Gunners creating too many problems in the final third.
However, a breakthrough came after a classy assist from Tavares who played a through ball for Bukayo Saka to produce an excellent finish.
The second goal shortly followed from Gabriel Martinelli after a wonderful chipped pass ball into his path from Tomiyasu.
The two full-backs changed the game and it is an avenue that Arteta should look to exploit on a more regular basis.
The Gunners have often looked toothless going forward this season but, adding an attacking threat from deeper will only improve our chances of scoring - as Tuchel’s Chelsea have proved.
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