Tactical Breakdown: Liverpool 2-1 Aston Villa
Premier League champions Liverpool won their first home game since Christmas, as they beat Aston Villa 2-1, courtesy of a late strike by Alexander-Arnold.
Systems
Liverpool played in a 4-3-3, with Roberto Firmino returning to the forward line in place of Sadio Mané. Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum retained their starting places and were partnered with James Milner. Otherwise, the team remained unchanged.
Dean Smith's Villa side also used a 4-3-3 structure, with Ollie Watkins leading the line, but in midfield …
Tactical Breakdown: Arsenal 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool won 3-0 at the Emirates, to breathe life back into their hopes of redeeming their league campaign, with goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah.
Systems
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal set up in a 4-2-3-1 on ball shape, and a 4-5-1 off ball system.
Thomas Partey and Dani Ceballos were paired together in a double-pivot. Martin Ødegaard was deployed as the no.10, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pépé either side of him. Alexandre Lacazette played up top.
Jürgen Klopp's side …
Liverpool's New Shape
To put it bluntly, Liverpool dominated Sheffield United. In previous games against the Blades, it’s been a struggle and the Reds have needed to dig deep to eke out wins. This game wasn’t like that, though. It finished 2-0 but it could’ve easily have been 5-0. In fact, it probably should’ve been.
Jurgen Klopp, to the surprise of many, didn’t make any changes to his midfield or attack. There had been rumblings in the build-up that Fabinho and Diogo Jota …
Tactical Breakdown: Liverpool 0-2 Everton
Carlo Ancelotti's Everton piled on more Merseyside misery for Liverpool, as they won by two goals at Anfield, their first away derby victory this century. The result displayed some of the impressive work Carlo Ancelotti has done with Everton, and drew upon aspects of the 0-0 draw following the restart, last season.
Systems
Liverpool utilised their normal 4-3-3 system in the first half. Alexander-Arnold and Robertson looked to move up into midfield and forward positions, whilst Salah, Firmino and Mané …
Tactical Breakdown: West Ham 1-3 Liverpool
Liverpool travelled to the London Stadium buoyed by a brilliant performance against Spurs. However, David Moyes' West Ham side have proven this season they can vie with the best, and hope to challenge for European qualification at the end of the season.
West Ham lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape. Michail Antonio led the line, supported primarily by Said Benrahma who would help create a front two when out of possession. Jarrod Bowen also contributed offensively, moving up in the …
Tactical Breakdown: Spurs 1-3 Liverpool
A month ago, Spurs travelled to Anfield in a contest for the league's top spot. Since then, results have tailed off for both sides, and an hour prior to kickoff, the news that Fabinho was injured compounded a terrible winless run for Liverpool with more adversity.
However, the truth was that the Reds had played fairly well recently, but had not had the results to reflect their performances. As Statsbomb's James Yorke argued in recent weeks, Liverpool were due to …
Tactical Breakdown: Liverpool 0-1 Burnley
As this bizarre season crosses its midpoint, Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool appears in trouble. The side is yet to score in the league this month and have surrendered first spot in the league to Manchester United, who are almost certainly set to be usurped by Manchester City. As readers of this series will no doubt already be aware, the Reds' poor run of results started with some bad performances, but recent performances have been far more positive, but without the result …
Tactical Breakdown: Southampton 1-0 Liverpool
On Monday night the Champions travelled down to St Mary's to face a depleted Southampton side, who were without a number of key players, such as Alex McCarthy, Oriol Romeu and Ché Adams.
The Saints lined up in a 4-4-2, in which they looked to press Liverpool's backline. Ralph Hassenhutl's team were also instructed to form a box around the deepest midfielder, Thiago, who would be pressed from all four players whenever he received the ball. As he passed the …
Tactical Breakdown: Newcastle 0-0 Liverpool
After an extremely disappointing match against West Bromwich Albion at home, Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool travelled up to Tyneside, to face Newcastle.
Liverpool, as usual, set up in a 4-3-3
Ahead of Alisson was Alexander-Arnold, Nat Philips, Fabinho and Robertson. The midfield featured Jones, Henderson and Milner, whilst the front three comprised Salah, Firmino and Mané.
Newcastle set up in a 5-2-3. This was a really interesting tactical decision by Steve Bruce. It incorporated a number of tactical elements from Liverpool's …
Tactical breakdown: Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
This extraordinary season continues to surprise us all. On Thursday night, Spurs travelled to Anfield, atop the Premier League. Notwithstanding the champions' 65 match unbeaten run in the league at home, Anfield has been a particularly unwelcoming place for the visitors in recent years. Especially for their manager, José Mourinho, a man who has attracted the ire of the locals on a number of occasions. All the better that two thousand were able to make it for this fixture.
Mourinho …