Three teams (Nottingham Forest, Fulham and, most recently, Manchester United) have traveled to Premier League leaders Liverpool and achieved a positive result this season, and all have tried football.
The most recent example, United’s deserved 2-2 draw, touted before the match as a landslide victory for Liverpool, such is the gulf between the two clubs.
But Rubén Amorim had done his homework, just like Marco Silva and Nuno Espirito Santo.
United attacked consistently down their left, exposing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s well-known weakness, as Diogo Dalot’s numerous scurries forward yielded chance after chance. Bruno Fernandes then crafted the perfect entry for Lisandro Martinez to slam home.
The visitors’ second game was practically the same, as Alejandro Garnacho’s foray down the left side allowed Amad Diallo to score for the first time. Fifty-four percent of United’s offensive throw-ins were aimed at Alexander-Arnold’s third. tone, which is a trend.
The last six goals conceded to Liverpool at Anfield have all come from the left, which is temporarily a thorn in the side of Arne Slot’s systematic control call.
As well as ruthlessly attacking the overexposed left flank, United increased the tension with overhead balls. Almost 80% of André Onana’s kicks have been long. It proved to be an undeniable but effective way to break down Liverpool’s top line and forced the calm Virgil van Dijk back a few metres.
Rasmus Hojlund then played off the shoulder of Ibrahima Konate, a yard off the pace following December’s injury lay-off, while Fernandes and Amad roamed the pockets of space in between.
“Man Utd’s front three pinned Liverpool and Fernandes gave Alexander-Arnold a real problem,” examined Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football. “Their 3-4-3 system got the better of Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1.”
Slot’s opinion is similar: “United had a very intelligent game plan: they have no preparation, they spend a lot of time and they don’t give us the possibility to press high. It’s more about the opponent’s plan every time we waste points. “
Slot is right, but he was overlooked to address his team’s weakness until the 86th minute, when Conor Bradley came off the bench to update Alexander-Arnold. The same thing happened against Fulham in mid-December and this is where the trend comes into play. .
Silva understood the assignment just as Amorim did.
Fulham’s first goal was created on (you guessed it) down the left when Harry Wilson passed the ball to playmaker Alex Iwobi, sliding between Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander-Arnold, and found ‘Antonee Robinson’s run overlapping.
Before you knew it, Andreas Pereira had beaten Andy Robertson in the post to score on a volley; the Scot also had a difficult afternoon against United.
The same culprits were concerned in the Fulham moment when Robinson ran at Alexander-Arnold, his command intentionally overloaded, before latching onto Iwobi’s pass (yes, from the left) to tee up Rodrigo Muñiz.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s triumph when Forest triumphed at Anfield in September was based on a little more individual ingenuity, but this all-round display, which forced Liverpool’s well-known failures, seems to have set a precedent.
Bradley might have been the right-sided full-back on that occasion but the outcome was no less damaging. Liverpool’s inconsistency at right-sided centre-half – Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and by emergency measure Gravenberch have all taken their turn – has not helped either.
The Reds’ imbalanced defence and inability to cope with strategic positioning of a No 10 who can play between the lines has been modelled by three teams you would expect Liverpool to beat this season.
If Slot’s team can’t press high with a defensive line that plays past the middle of the field, it will be effective.
Both Fulham and United forced Liverpool far deeper than they are comfortable playing, using width in advantageous areas to drag players out of position, while the foremost striker stays high to create gaps. Leicester – the other visitor to Anfield in the same period – allowed Liverpool to play almost entirely in their half and were beaten 3-1.
“Alexander-Arnold was constantly caught between Fernandes and winger Dalot,” noted Carragher in his recent MNF analysis. Iwobi played exactly the same role a few weeks ago and Morgan Gibbs-White for Forest before that.
And yet, Liverpool’s shortcomings are offset by the electrical power installed at the top. They have the firepower to defeat teams at will and have recovered from thirteen wasted position problems in the Premier League this season, having been behind in four of their last six.
Maintaining a good lead as a favorite will be Slot’s sole purpose; However, evidence shows that it is possible to achieve this with an ambitious and specific game plan.
Having the courage to check it out is, of course, another matter.
Watch Tottenham vs Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Football; kick-off 8pm.