It wasn’t exactly the best time for Liverpool to be starting their Champions League campaign. Putting in miserable performances in the Premier League against poor sides, a trip to Napoli, still undefeated in Serie A, didn’t bode well.
Jürgen Klopp made three changes to the side that could only muster a draw in the Merseyside derby. Out went Kostas Tsimikas, Fabio Carvalho and Darwin Nuñez, replaced by Andy Robertson, James Milner and Roberto Firmino. Liverpool set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Luciano Spalletti made two changes to the team that beat Lazio, swapping out Mario Rui and Hirving Lozano for Mathias Olivera and Matteo Politano. Napoli lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, although it would sometimes resemble a 4-3-3, with Piotr Zielinski dropping back and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa pulled forward.
From the start, Liverpool attempted to press Napoli high, yet the home side’s midfielders had the quality on the ball to play around the pressure and create space for themselves, then used that space to hit balls in behind Liverpool’s high line for their teammates to run onto.
This is how Napoli opened the scoring. Alex Meret passed over Liverpool’s forward line to Rui on the left, and he, Zielinski and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia exchanged one-touch passes to play around Harvey Elliott and Fabinho, allowing Rui to knock a pass in behind for Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian cut inside and passed to Zielinski waiting on the edge of the area, left in acres of space thanks to Fabinho barely making any effort to retreat after being beaten, and the Pole’s shot deflected off of Milner’s arm, earning Napoli a penalty that Zielinksi converted.
Napoli would also look to press Liverpool high up the pitch, having one of the midfielders push forward to press Joe Gomez while Victor Osimhen took Virgil van Dijk, while another was pulled forward onto Fabinho. This made it harder for Liverpool to play out by cutting off these short passing options, requiring Firmino to again drop very deep to help progress the ball, but pulling two of the midfielders forward meant only one was left covering the space in front of the defence. Liverpool were repeatedly able to get the ball between the lines, with Elliott pushing forward, Firmino dropping off and Luis Diaz cutting inside.
This was a problem even when Napoli dropped off to defend, with midfielders pulled forward to pressure deeper Liverpool players leaving space to exploit behind them. Nevertheless poor touches from Liverpool and a well-drilled backline ready to drop off and protect their goal stopped Liverpool from being able to create chances from these positions.
Napoli had several chances to double their lead before they finally did. First they won another penalty when another failed Liverpool press allowed Anguissa to play another pass in behind their high line. Van Dijk at least dropped off to follow Osimhen and appeared to have him cornered, only to tread on him after the ball had gone, yet the striker failed to convert the penalty.
Ten minutes later, Gomez came across to cover another ball behind the defensive line, but then gave it away cheaply, needing Van Dijk to stop the ball on the line.
Minutes later, Napoli had their second. Gomez again gave the ball away cheaply, but Liverpool recovered, getting men back to defend. A simple one-two allowed Anguissa to waltz into the box and finish though. Liverpool’s shape had become a little mixed up to defend the initial attack: Gomez was pulled wide, requiring Fabinho to drop into the box to cover for him in the centre, which in turn saw Trent Alexander-Arnold position himself just in front of the defence in Fabinho’s usual spot. This worked well to defend the initial move, slowing down Napoli and forcing Anguissa into playing backwards to Zielinski, but it was a complete mess for the second phase of the move: Alexander-Arnold just stood around doing nothing, neither stepping up to close down Zielinski nor moving towards his right-back position, while Fabinho moved forward as if to take back up his midfield position, without Gomez moving back inside. With neither Fabinho nor Gomez taking responsibility for Anguissa, the Cameroonian was left to sprint in behind them and score.
Napoli then added another just before half-time. They played down the right, then out to the left, displaying once again Liverpool’s defensive issues in the 4-3-3. Elliott was forced inside to defend, meaning Rui was left free out on the flank. The teenager sprinted out to meet him but couldn’t get anywhere near, allowing Rui to pass down the line to Kvaratskhelia. A lackadaisical Alexander-Arnold slowly meandered across and as soon as he began to set his feet, the Georgian knocked the ball past him and sprinted behind. Gomez came across to cover, getting a touch as Kvaratskhelia tried to knock it past him, but the ball span back into Kvaratskhelia’s path as he put his body between Gomez and the ball, and the winger crossed for substitute Giovanni Simeone to score.
Napoli beat Liverpool’s high line at the start of the second half to make it four. There was no pressure on the ball, again, so Anguissa knocked a pass in behind for Simeone to chase and square to Zielinski. The Pole’s first shot was saved, but he dinked the rebound over Alisson Becker.
Liverpool managed to pull one back soon after, as Robertson stole the ball from Giovanni Di Lorenzo as Napoli tried to counter. The ball fell to Diaz, who cut inside onto his right to shoot past Meret from just outside the box.
With Napoli happy to sit back and conserve energy, Liverpool were on the attack for most of the second half, but a comeback was never on the cards.
This result wasn’t really the least bit surprising. Liverpool were already losing to poor sides, and Napoli are actually good.
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