After an excellent season last year, Sheffield United have started this one much slower, claiming just one point so far against fellow slow starters Fulham.
Chris Wilder made three changes to the team that drew with Fulham. Ben Osborn and Ethan Ampadu came in for Max Lowe and Oliver Norwood, while Rhian Brewster was given a chance to lead the line against his former club alongside Oli McBurnie, taking David McGoldrick’s spot.
While Wilder stuck with his usual 3-5-2 formation, Jurgen Klopp moved away from his usual 4-3-3 formation to a 4-2-3-1 which Liverpool haven’t started in since welcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers to Anfield last year. This allowed Diogo Jota the opportunity to join up with Liverpool’s typical attacking trio and Jordan Henderson returned to the line-up to partner Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield.
The game quickly settled into what was going to be its pattern: Sheffield United sitting back while Liverpool tried to break them down. The early penalty in Sheffield United’s favour only solidified this pattern further, giving them a lead to defend.
Liverpool got to work with switches of play straight away. Initially keeping central, John Lundstram and Sander Berge, or Osborn and George Baldock if Liverpool’s full-backs had pushed forward into advanced positions, would rush out to meet Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson respectively. Even if this wasn’t successful initially, it was at least money in the bank: they couldn’t sprint the width of the pitch whenever Liverpool switched flanks for 90 minutes.
The immediate beneficiary of this was Henderson. With Lundstram reluctant to stray too far from the wing, Liverpool’s captain was able to find pockets of space inside to advance the ball.
He soon began to drop back alongside the centre-backs too. The first time he did this, Lundstram was unsure as to go with Alexander-Arnold or close down Henderson. Alexander-Arnold received a pass, forcing Osborn into a decision and allowing Jota to attack the space behind him, getting Liverpool’s attackers four-versus-four against Sheffield United’s backline.
Liverpool seemed to recognise this opportunity, with Mohamed Salah drifting wide to add to the overload down the right, however every time after this Liverpool were far too slow in moving the ball, enabling Sheffield United to shift across and defend.
Although focussed on defending, Sheffield United went direct when attacking. They would send long balls to McBurnie and Brewster and then quickly break forward if they retained possession, knocking it wide to the wing-back to hit in a cross as the forwards and midfielders attacked the box.
Liverpool also looked to go direct. They sent long balls in behind for the attackers to run onto, almost scoring in the opening minute when Aaron Ramsdale raced out to meet Sadio Mane.
More frequently Alexander-Arnold and Henderson whipped in crosses from the right. These mainly seemed a waste of possession, as Sheffield United had plenty of men back, yet it was from one of these crosses that Liverpool equalised. Liverpool flooded the box with men and Mane was left free to head at goal when Baldock, presumably thinking Chris Basham was covering the Senegalese, focussed on Robertson, only for the centre-back to follow Roberto Firmino instead. Ramsdale saved Mane’s header but Firmino tucked away the rebound.
Liverpool then got their winner with another cross, albeit this time from the left.
They even had a goal disallowed from an Alexander-Arnold cross, although that saw Salah running in behind rather than competing in the air against a set Sheffield United defence.
It was proof enough that when you possess real crossing quality, as Liverpool do, simply flooding the box against a packed defence is a legitimate attacking strategy.
This won’t be news to anyone who’s watched Liverpool in the last two years though. The real intrigue of this match beyond securing the three points – the new shape – is still largely a mystery. The addition of an extra man to Liverpool’s frontline to come short and go long seemed beneficial, plus Firmino seemed happier in deeper positions with three men ahead of him, but its value still remains a bit of a mystery when Liverpool’s attacking came through crosses.
Likewise the defensive questions of how Liverpool benefit from the extra width in midfield, and how they adjust their counterpress when they will presumably have an extra man ahead of the ball rather than in midfield remains unresolved from this match.
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