The Premier League returned from the international break with a top of the table clash between Liverpool and Leicester City.
Liverpool’s squad has been ravaged by injuries, missing Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara and Xherdan Shaqiri, while positive Covid-19 tests ruled out Mohamed Salah, however concerns about the defence were assuaged by the recovery of Andy Robertson and Fabinho. It was instead the midfield of their usual 4-3-3 formation that looked most roughly assembled, with young attacking pair Naby Keïta and Curtis Jones ahead of Georginio Wijnaldum.
Leicester have wrestled with an injury crisis of their own though, with Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Söyüncü, Wilfred Ndidi and Timothy Castagne all missing out. Brendan Rodgers set up his side in a 3-4-3 formation.
Leicester would typically drop back into a 5-4-1 shape rather than pressing Liverpool, however James Maddison, particularly early on, would regularly be drawn forward alongside Jamie Vardy. This left acres of space for Robertson to attack down the flank and yet Liverpool rarely exploited this.
Over the last few seasons Liverpool have depended on their full-backs for creativity however with Alexander-Arnold missing and Robertson recovering from a hamstring injury, Liverpool seemed to instead focus on building up through the middle.
Jones and Keïta would take it in turns dropping in alongside Wijnaldum, with the former also frequently pulling out to either flank to outnumber Leicester on the flanks and work the ball forward. Ahead of them Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota were all constantly dropping off and looking to receive the ball to feet, while Jones or Keïta would join them too.
This saw Nampalys Mendy and Youri Tielemans outnumbered in midfield, unable to step up to Wijnaldum and whoever stayed back with him without leaving space for an attacker behind them, leaving Liverpool’s players with time on the ball. The fluidity of the frontline also proved a problem for Leicester’s backline, with some being dragged out whenever one attacker came short only for another to exploit the space behind them. Liverpool found a lot of joy in taking advantage of Wesley Fofana’s aggression, baiting him into a challenge high up the pitch then racing away from him, leaving him in their dust as they broke at the Leicester defence.
The choices of Jones and Keïta in midfield were good, with the pair able to slide passes between Leicester’s midfielders, while the attackers all combined well – Mane did his usual excellent mixture of dropping off and running in behind, Firmino put in his best performance for a while as he not only dropped deep but also frequently stayed in attack and rolled his defender, while Jota made diagonal bursts that made him difficult for the defenders to track.
It was Jota’s running that led to the first goal, with him drawing Christian Fuchs forward then racing in behind, forcing Jonny Evans across to cover, only for the Northern Irishman to knock the resulting corner into his own net.
Jota then scored the second himself. It was one of the few moments Liverpool really exploited the space down the left, switching the ball out to Robertson to cross. Keïta pushed forward to ensure all of Leicester’s centre-backs were occupied: Fofana on Keïta, Evans on Mané and Fuchs on Firmino. Mané’s movement opened up the gap between Evans and Fuchs and, unmarked, Jota burst into the box from deep. Spotting Jota’s run, Fuchs left Firmino but he was too late, with the Portuguese getting to the cross first to glance it into the net.
Leicester weren’t helping themselves in possession, continually give the ball back to Liverpool easily with long balls. Their idea was presumably to overload Liverpool’s backline, as they pushed Marc Albrighton and James Justin very high in attack to create a five-versus-four in attack. This left them unable to pass out from the back though, as they were left five-against-five: Liverpool’s forward trio would hover around Mendy and Tielemans, then move out to press the back three when they spent too much time on the ball, with Jones and Keïta moving up to stick tight to the midfielders as the forwards stepped up. Unable to find a free man, Leicester would send the ball long which Liverpool comfortably dealt with.
Had Leicester simply pulled Albrighton and Justin a little deeper, they could have given themselves passing options from the back, but also created space in attack. A ball out to the wing-backs could have put James Milner and Robertson in two minds whether to close down the wing-back and leave space for Harvey Barnes and Maddison, or hold their position and allow Albrighton and Justin to advance. Just pushing them all forward allowed Liverpool’s full-backs to simply hold their positions and wait for aerial balls to head away.
Pushing the wing-backs so far forward was also a disaster defensively. Leicester would go long, Liverpool would cut out the ball, then they would spring forward. With five men high up in attack, Leicester were left understaffed in defence as Liverpool poured forward on the counter.
Rodgers made changes mid-way through the second half, replacing Fuchs and Barnes with Cengiz Ünder and Dennis Praet as they switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation. This saw Maddison move into the middle, where he was better able to drift into gaps behind Liverpool’s midfield to receive the ball. While he did once manage to immediately spin on the ball and slide a through ball in behind, Liverpool’s midfielders were generally able to retreat and haul him down before he could threaten the defence.
Firmino, having repeatedly gone ridiculously close, finally got the goal his performance merited, heading home a corner.
It was an impressive win not just because of the ease that Liverpool dispatched a potential title rival with, but also the way they did it, working their way through the centre rather than just whipping crosses into the box as they have been become overly accustomed to.
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2 Responses
Amazing analysis
Cheers