Chelsea v Liverpool: one great game, five big questions

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It’s Chelsea v Liverpool and it’s the first big game of the season. So let’s talk about tactics …

1) Will Havertz and Werner make this a game from start to finish?
Liverpool’s The high defensive line was constantly tested by Leeds United in his first game last weekend, in which Marcelo Bielsa instructed four or five players to run over the shoulder of the last defender. It was the main reason the game got so stretched – Liverpool had to frantically backtrack and yet were given a chance to counter directly because those Leeds running backs had emptied central midfield.

Sunday’s game could follow a very similar pattern; a replay from July 5-3 is certainly not out of the question. Frank Lampard will have been encouraged by the way Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were unsettled by the number of bodies Leeds committed forward, and will no doubt believe that their new front line can surprise the champions in similar ways.

Against Brighton, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner made very smart runs behind the Brighton defense and the Chelsea midfielder played long balls forward to get into goal. With these two moving into the wide open spaces on the flanks by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, Chelsea won’t be able to resist turning this into an open end-to-end game.

2) Can Keita be the point man against Chelsea’s porous midfield?
Chelsea’s problems coping with the defensive transition continue. Lampard still allows his players to attack without any structural discipline, meaning that they are not prepared to press the ball, or compress the space between the lines, when one of their attacks misses. Instead, with so many players wandering around in search of space, there is often a large gap in the central midfield for opponents to counterattack.

This inevitably happened in the 3-1 win over Brighton in a match the hosts could have easily won (Graham Potter’s side won the battle of xG, the royal quiz, 1.44-1.27). Steven Alzate and Kyle Lamptey, in particular, found it too easy to break lines and move the ball forward, and if Brighton can take advantage of Chelsea’s porosity, Liverpool should go wild.

Naby Keita scored a brilliant opening goal at 5-3 last season and was excellent for the first 30 minutes, smashing through midfield like the Keita we saw at RB Leipzig. He could be the one setting the pace on Sunday, particularly after another assured performance in Liverpool’s first game of the season against Leeds. Keita’s verticality in possession is exactly what is needed against this Chelsea team.

3) Or can Lampard show caution and shut down Liverpool?
But we cannot guarantee that this will be another open game. Before the 5-3 at Anfield, Chelsea in general had played well against Klopp’s Liverpool, maintaining a deeper defensive line and instructing their players to stay away from the press. In fact, those defensive transition issues were most severe against non-Big Six clubs last season, with Lampard retiring tactically for the biggest games.

In their last league game at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool’s 2-1 victory in September, Chelsea recorded 13 shots to Liverpool’s six, while Willian and N’Golo Kante played key roles in targeted counterattacks.

The Brazilian winger was successful in long diagonal changes that took advantage of Liverpool’s overall tightness – the three forwards offer little support to the full-backs – and although he is no longer at the club, Havertz, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic could be instructed to do something similar.

The first 10 minutes of Sunday afternoon will define the tactical pattern of the game. If Lampard successfully conveys a defensive cautionary message with a deeper bottom line, Chelsea have a fighting chance.

4) Will three behind be a surprise feature of the game?
Chelsea can move to a 3-4-2-1 formation for this game, even though this was the formation used quite disastrously in the eight-goal thriller at Anfield. Their personnel have changed significantly since then, and against Brighton, Mount and Havertz functioned more as inside forwards in Conte’s mold, suggesting that Lampard would be willing to use them behind Werner in a 3-4-2-1.

The obvious advantage of this formation is that it would allow Chelsea center-backs to go three-on-three with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, while leaving the wingers free to push up and close off Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. . Trying to cover narrow forwards and wide wings is a Catch-22 when playing with a four-man defense, but in theory at least things get better with a five.

It could also create space for Chelsea to split passes through Liverpool’s midfield; Mount and Havertz can fall between the lines to create a square shape in the middle with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante, beating Liverpool’s three.

Klopp could also use a back three at some point in the game, as he did in a 2-1 win in September. It changed to a 5-4-1 during the final ten minutes as the pressure from Chelsea mounted, successfully shutting down the hosts.

5) Will Salah’s confrontation with Alonso be decisive?
As a trusted player, Mo Salah’s hat-trick against Leeds puts him in a very strong position ahead of facing one of the weakest left-backs in the division, Marcos Alonso, on Sunday. It’s arguably the biggest mismatch of individual battles and should be a standout feature regardless of formation choice or the broader pattern of the contest.

If the game is from one end to the other, Alonso will not be able to cope and will surely be caught out of position, while if Chelsea makes it a claustrophobic affair, Salah will still have the upper hand whenever he faces Alonso on the Flank. right. In this scenario, Liverpool will undoubtedly repeatedly target Lampard’s left-back.

If Chelsea goes 3-4-2-1, then in theory Alonso will be tasked with tracking down Alexander-Arnold, but the England right-back is more likely to dip into the box and play in half space. right while looking to escape. from the wing-back. That, in turn, will see Salah return to Alonso when the Egyptian takes the broader position left by Alexander-Arnold. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, there is no escaping the battle between Alonso and Salah.

Alex Keble Hosts Premier League Pre-Match Tactics Program on twitch.tv/EPLtactics



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