Liverpool: How they play football

This blog highlights my understanding of how Liverpool has played their football in the 21/22 campaign. 

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images - taken from: https://sponsorship.sportbusiness.com/news/liverpool-confirms-wasabi-technologies-deal-as-brand-grows-global-awareness/) 

The Formation:

All coaches and teams are set up in different ways due to injuries, suspensions or how the opposition play. However, analysing Klopp's Liverpool side this season (21/22) it is very evident that he sets up with the same formation and tactics most, if not, every game. Liverpool uses the 4-3-3 formation, and unlike Pep Guardiola, Klopp uses an actual striker to play through the middle in either Jota or Firmino and sometimes Minamino. On the odd occasion, he does tend to start Luis Diaz as upfront, as seen in their most recent victory over Manchester United at Anfield.

Their defensive formation would sometimes vary from a very flat 4-3-3 in midfield where all 3 midfielders are next to each other or their sitting midfielder dropping much deeper to create a back 5, although this was on very small occasions. The wingers would also drop deeper to provide an out ball for the CBs or fullbacks when they are under pressure. The striker for Liverpool tracks back more than the wingers to provide a quick transition from defence to attack.

Tactics

Attacking

Liverpool set up in a very attacking 4-3-3 formation where the front 3 would generally be level with each other but also the wingers would drift wide to provide a bit more width and open up space in midfield. This would allow the midfielder to play off the striker and split the CBs apart. They also played with one sitting midfielder and two 8's who provided extra attacking options when crosses go into the box from either flank. However, more often than not, they would provide support to the fullbacks who both start very high, almost like wingers, while the actual wingers would tuck inside next to the striker.

The front 3 for LFC love playing close together and linking up play as it helps them split the opposition's defence up quicker and gives them clear cut opportunities to score goals. Liverpool's fullbacks are also well known for their crossing ability and love overloading the box due to this reason, as their accuracy in these scenarios is lethal for any opposition.

Liverpool also conducts a well-orchestrated high press in which their attackers press in tandem, forcing the opposition to misplace passes/clearances only for Liverpool's two 8's in midfield to pick up the loose ball and counterattack. This team is famous for being energetic and ruthless and it's no secret why their attack is world-class almost every year.

Defence

Liverpool usually sticks to their 4-3-3 formation in defensive phases during matches but rather than attacking and with two 8's the midfield becomes flat. The two 8's drop deep alongside the lone sitting midfielder and sit in front of their defensive line. Liverpool likes to have a high defensive line and catch the opposition in offside traps. However, this can be risky with the opposition that has speed in their attacks as there is a lot of attacking space behind the defensive line, and with the LFC fullbacks having high starting positions it's harder for them to track back quickly. Thus, Liverpool's defence can sometimes be left short when defending against counter-attacks. 

Although Liverpool has arguably the best CB in the world over the last 4 years, which does cause many opposition attackers to hesitate when attacking which is beneficial for the other defenders as well. Van Djik has both pace and power which allows him to fill the space in behind quickly and his ability to defend 1v1 is second to none hence why Klopp likes to set a high defensive line so that a quick transition into an attack can occur and for LFC to stay on the front foot in the match.

The wingers do tend to track but not all the time as they are needed much higher up the pitch in counter scenarios as they have immense pace (usually Salah and Mane, sometimes Diaz). Hence the striker drops deeper on most occasions in order to allow the wingers to have a higher defensive position so that the transition into a counterattack will prove to be dangerous for the opposition.