Given Liverpool endured their worst loss of the Premier League era in the away match at Villa Park this season and even that was before their relegation-worthy post-Christmas form, few Reds were likely keen on the return match with Aston Villa.
Jürgen Klopp made two changes to the team that lost to Real Madrid in mid-week, replacing Naby Keïta and Sadio Mané with James Milner and Roberto Firmino in Liverpool’s usual 4-3-3 formation.
Dean Smith matched Liverpool’s shape, switching to the 4-3-3 from a 4-2-3-1, and also made two changes to the side that beat Fulham, bringing in Trézéguet and Marvelous Nakamba in place of Anwar El Ghazi and Morgan Sanson.
Both teams pressed high up the pitch. Villa’s wingers set up in position to press either the centre-backs or the full-backs, with Ollie Watkins switching between one of the centre-backs and goalkeeper Alisson Becker depending on the situation, while John McGinn and Douglas Luiz would push up onto Fabinho and whichever centre-midfielder dropped back next to him, usually Georginio Wijnaldum.
Villa didn’t press high all the time, often dropping back into a 4-5-1, but they looked a lot better when they did. This was because Watkins was often drawn forward towards the centre-backs when Villa sat back, leaving a large gap between him and the midfield. As a result, Fabinho had space to get on the ball and pick out passes forward, but it wasn’t just him – Andy Robertson was also able to cut inside and use this space to pick out a long ball too.
Pressing saw Villa not only make it hard for Liverpool to play out by pressuring them but also had McGinn and Luiz push forward to support the press, covering this space in the process.
The main issue when Villa when McGinn and Luiz were drawn forward was that Nakamba was left alone in front of the defence. Firmino benefitted from this, enjoying his best game in a while, but Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah both tucked inside too, enabling them to either act as decoys for Firmino or pick up the ball themselves between the lines.
Liverpool’s pressing was even more successful than Villa’s. They were constantly able to force Emiliano Martinez into kicking long so they could recover the ball, however they were also able to counter easily. Martinez would always kick long but it didn’t stop Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa from continuing to drop deep next to him and the players spreading out ahead of them as if they were going to play out. This meant when Liverpool recovered the ball they had loads of space to play through, as Villa were stretched out across the pitch.
Villa’s main attacking strategy was generally trying to hit Watkins on the counter, however Liverpool dealt with this well. Better was when Villa played down the left, then switched out to Matty Cash on the right, taking advantage of Liverpool’s narrow midfield by dragging them over to one side, leaving acres of space for Cash to advance into on the other.
Liverpool also had some joy through their right-back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold pushing forward to double up on Matt Targett with Salah.
Villa went in at half-time with the lead. They had pushed men forward for a long ball which Liverpool won, however Konsa stepped in as Liverpool tried to break forward, pinging it back up into attack. McGinn had pushed forward for the long ball and Luiz had been pulled forward to press, and this left them in behind Liverpool’s midfield as the Reds were pushing forward – in a bad position to defend, but in the ideal position to counter when Villa won the ball back. Picking up the loose ball, Luiz drew in Fabinho, Liverpool’s last remaining midfielder, then laid it off to McGinn next to him, who picked out a pass into Watkins to finish quickly.
To help shore up the midfield, Villa changed to a 4-2-3-1 at half time, with McGinn pushing forward into the attacking midfield role and Luiz dropping back to help out the outnumbered Nakamba.
Villa conceded an equaliser on the counter-attack though. Liverpool had already scored a goal following a turnover in midfield, catching Villa’s midfield ahead of the ball and unable to stop Alexander-Arnold’s quick pass forward, only for it to be ruled out for yet another dubious offside call. Ten minutes into the second half, Villa again went long and Liverpool won the ball back, with Villa’s four attackers all caught ahead of the ball. Again failing to put any pressure on Alexander-Arnold, he passed into attack, and Liverpool quickly broke forward with a series of rapid passes, going from right to left, then seeing Salah follow up Robertson’s shot after it was saved. Villa could hardly say they hadn’t been warned.
Smith committed to the 4-2-3-1 with an attacking change, bringing on Ross Barkley for Nakamba. This saw McGinn move back next to Luiz, with Barkley playing off of Watkins. Villa’s pressing arguably improved in this shape, with Watkins and Barkley able to press a centre-back each while blocking the passes into the midfielders behind them, leaving the wingers to focus on the full-backs, essentially allowing them to press four-on-four against Liverpool’s backline.
The problem was in midfield again though. When Barkley and Watkins were pulled forward, McGinn and Luiz were left outnumbered just as Nakamba had been. Several times Villa were left relying on Mings to step up and cover behind them. Firmino had been dropping deep into midfield early in the first half and even though the Brazilian was substituted, Klopp made a series of changes to help the creativity in this area, with Thiago Alcântara, Xherdan Shaqiri and Mané all coming on.
The problem was clear as day in the build-up to the winning goal, where Milner picked up the ball in midfield behind Barkley, forcing McGinn forward and Luiz across to cover, which left Alexander-Arnold free to pick up the ball in an unusual position between the lines. He pushed forward and combined with Salah to cross from the left, putting him in the perfect position to rifle home the loose ball following a cross from the right.
Villa probably would have had more success if they had aimed to frustrate Liverpool, but their willingness to go toe-to-toe ended up with the kind of entertaining, energetic, end-to-end game this season, plagued by fatigue, has sorely missed.
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