Case Study: Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City 30/12/2022

In their last match of 2022, Liverpool hosted former manager Brendan Rodgers and his Leicester City side at Anfield.

Rodgers made two changes to the team that was soundly beaten by Newcastle, as Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet were replaced by Wilfred Ndidi and Ayoze Perez. Leicester lined up in a 4-3-3 shape.

Jürgen Klopp made one change to the side that beat Aston Villa, with Harvey Elliott replacing Fabinho. Liverpool set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.

Leicester started the game hitting the ball long to Harvey Barnes on the left flank for him to tap inside to Patson Daka.

This was how Leicester took an early lead. The long ball allowed Leicester to play over the top of the Liverpool press, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcântara and Elliott pulled forward to pick up Luke Thomas, Boubakary Soumaré and Ndidi. Barnes flicked the ball on for Daka, who laid the ball off for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in midfield. With the other midfielders pulled forward and doing little to get back, Jordan Henderson was left isolated in front of the defence and his attempted tackle got nowhere close as Dewsbury-Hall dribbled past him. With Joël Matip and Virgil van Dijk getting pulled across to the right and Andy Robertson focussing on stepping up to catch Perez offside, leaving little covering depth as a result, Dewsbury-Hall was able to drive straight through the middle of the Liverpool defence and scoop the ball past Alisson Becker inside the near post. Liverpool once again handed their opposition an easy lead.

Leicester’s formation was generally listed as a 4-2-3-1, but in reality it was a 4-3-3, however the Foxes probably would have been better served had they used the former. A 4-2-3-1 would have allowed Leicester to line up man-for-man in midfield with Liverpool, with the attacking midfielder picking up Henderson, but instead Liverpool’s captain was left free at the base of the midfield.

This didn’t hurt Leicester too much, as Henderson was enduring a terrible game, and even when in form he isn’t really the type of player to pick out line-breaking passes.

Although when Thiago dropped back into this space instead, Liverpool were able to make greater use of it.

In a 4-2-3-1 Leicester would have also been able to push the attacking midfielder up to pressure the Liverpool centre-backs with Daka, but in a 4-3-3, it was instead left to Barnes and Perez to come inside. This saw them move away from the flanks and they were often caught ahead of the ball when Leicester lost it on the attack, opening up space for Liverpool’s full-backs to advance.

It’s easy to see why Leicester’s shape was seen as a 4-2-3-1 though, as Dewsbury-Hall was expected to push forward and join the attack. This created issues for Leicester defensively, as he was meant to be the direct opponent of Elliott – Liverpool’s most advanced midfielder. Dewsbury-Hall would advance into attack, and then, when Leicester lost possession, would be miles away from his man Elliott.

Liverpool would equalise shortly before half-time. With Leicester back defending, Alexander-Arnold whipped in a cross and Wout Faes went to clear it but ended up hitting it up into the air, lobbing Danny Ward who had come out to collect the cross.

Liverpool then took the lead with another Faes own goal. Ward hit another goal kick towards Barnes but Matip headed it back the other way and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain flicked it on for Darwin Nuñez. The Uruguayan outpaced Daniel Amartey and shot past Ward, however the ball hit the post, only for the retreating Faes to then knock it across the line.

The second half continued in much the same way. If Leicester sat back then Liverpool simply held onto possession, giving Leicester no hope of getting the ball back, but if Leicester pressed Liverpool then the Reds simply cut straight through them.

It was far from a good performance from Liverpool, but it didn’t need to be against a Leicester side more than happy to gift them three points.

If you enjoy these posts, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a one-off donation. For just €2.99, you can get access to premium videos and training sessions.