Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
As expected for Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp elected to revert to the 4-3-3 system with which he has enjoyed a great deal of success with against Liverpool’s top six rivals and Champions League competitors too.
It made sense: Arsenal have a renewed impetus to play out from the back and did not have a particularly quick midfield, or backline, and in both regards were not technically gifted in either area. Arsenal’s threat lay with their forwards and stopping the supply into …
Analysing Liverpool's 'Packing' Performance
Liverpool are currently enjoying their best ever start to a Premier League season, with their ten-match unbeaten run positioning The Reds level at the top of the table with last season's champions, Manchester City. Despite being tied with City on 26 points though, the vast majority of data behind the results suggests that Pep Guardiola's men are in a league of their own, certainly in the realms of xG. However, there is one analytical metric that rates Liverpool extremely high …
Liverpool 4-1 Cardiff: A Tactical Breakdown
After an efficient and impressive performance in the Champions League, against Red Star Belgrade, Liverpool looked reinvigorated and refreshed, following a run of closer, drab matches.
Neil Warnock's pre-match presser made it obvious how Cardiff would set up to play, as he sang praises of Liverpool's fantastic forward line, who look as imperious as ever, and consequently the challenges of attempting to keep those forwards out. Very rarely do the statistics tell the story of the match as much as …
Liverpool 4-0 Red Star Belgrade: A Tactical Breakdown
After a drab affair against Huddersfield, Liverpool fans were craving for an impressive performance. Yet, for the opening 20 minutes, Liverpool looked a far cry from their fluid, incisive best. But this was no typical Liverpool lineup.
Klopp has employed the 4-3-3 system to good effect in his three seasons at Liverpool, after initially starting with a 4-2-3-1, which served him well at Dortmund. Having a balance between attack and defence is central to both of these systems, and as …
Huddersfield 0-1 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
After the international break, it’s never quite as easy as you would expect for a team to pick up where they left off. Jürgen Klopp alluded to this in his post-match presser, as he cited the return of both Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson as late as Thursday. For all this disruption though, Huddersfield were still rank outsiders for this fixture.
Klopp used this fixture though as an opportunity to re-jig a starting XI that was struggling with injuries and was …
Explaining Liverpool's Pressing Against Manchester City
In Liverpool’s most recent contest, The Reds achieved a 0-0 draw at home to title rivals, Manchester City. The match was cagey, conservative and respectful, and despite Liverpool restricting City to just two shots on target, some viewers weren’t happy with the home side's work without the ball. The main viewer that I’m referencing here is Sky’s co-commentator on the day, Gary Neville, as he spent large portions of the match pointing out that Liverpool ‘weren’t right’, and that they …
Liverpool's Midfield Imbalance
So far this season, Liverpool have accumulated 12 points after winning their first four matches of the campaign, even despite the Reds barely moving into second gear. Klopp's title challengers have thus far won 4-0, 2-0, 1-0 and 2-1, but in one of those contests, Liverpool struggled considerably to regain control more so than in their previous three matches. Against Leicester City and despite collecting all three points, the team were lucky to escape with the win having lost the …
Leicester 1-2 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
After a series of games in which one team opened themselves up to be spatially exploited, and two decided to sit tight and deep, Leicester offered a new and different challenge to those Liverpool have already faced this season. Leicester were far more aggressive than previous opponents, but the game was largely characterised by a brief and effective period of Liverpool dominance, followed by a resolute, controlled defensive display to cap the remainder of the first half, and then an …
Liverpool 1-0 Brighton: A Tactical Breakdown
On the final game of the 2017/18 season, Liverpool romped to a 4-0 victory against Brighton, but this time around, Chris Hughton was determined for the type of game and result to be completely different to the preceding meeting between the two sides.
Brighton set up in a 4-5-1 off ball formation. In recent games, both this season and last season, Liverpool have come up against a number of teams at Anfield looking to defend rigidly, and fight for a …
Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Liverpool: A Tactical Breakdown
Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park was a perfect result. The performance itself though was a great deal detached from perfect. LFC's attacking brilliance is regularly lauded and rightfully praised, however, the response to the victory against Palace does not accurately reflect the performance itself, nor the underwhelming work of the forwards and midfield against a low block, again. Andrew Beasley wrote an excellent piece praising Liverpool, particularly the defence, and whilst his analysis of the defence is largely agreeable, …