[ad_1]
Liverpool head to Denmark tonight in an unusual position: there is no need to win.
Classification at the top of the Champions League group is already assured. For Jürgen Klopp, this brings two benefits: the ability to have as many stars as you want in the midst of a tough and exhausting streak of matches; an opportunity to experiment, either with personnel or tactics.
High-level managers rarely get a free hit, yet here it is for Klopp and the staff.
And that in itself means the game will be worth watching. What lineup will Klopp go with? What training? And what does it all mean, if at all?
Our writers select three things that will be pending on Wednesday night.
Dan Morgan: Literally anything can happen here. But there is something to consider when considering a possible talking point for this game. It’s easy to forget now, because it seems like a lifetime ago, but Virgil van Dijk started both Liverpool League Cup games this season, one against Lincoln City and the other against a rotated Arsenal.
That tells us everything and nothing, of course, other than that perhaps Jurgen Klopp is more averse to risk than we all seem to blindly assume. I’m pretty relaxed with this lineup, however I want one thing and one thing from the game, and that is that both Gini Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson are nowhere near.
The rest in many ways take care of themselves. Liverpool’s fringe players will play (that doesn’t mean they are under 18), it will probably be frustrating and disjointed at times and the outcome is anyone’s guess in many ways.
If I had to make a prediction for this one, it would be that Liverpool’s lineup is stronger than many imagine.
Watch out: a Liverpool lineup stronger than many predict
Ollie Connolly: I am in a bind. I am infinitely fascinated by Naby Keita: for his talent, his game, his positioning, his potential. And yet I’m tired of the promise and the maybe and I’m starting to fall into a disappointed certainty that this, getting in and out of the lineup, playing in flashes, is the final bottom line.
And for that reason, I am fascinated to see how he rejoined the first team fold. Will he be sitting on the side of a 4-3-3, where he can play as a pitcher drifting from box to box? Will it be in a 4-2-3-1 with Keita as one of the midfield assistants, where he can drop off, pick up the ball and start the team’s tempo? Or will it be, primarily, at the tip of the triangle in a three morph, where he is more of an attacking presence than a gathering and creating force?
For Liverpool, he has been at his best when he has been able to take the ball early and can play at his own pace. Yet there have been glimpses of how special it can be when does he plays within the flow of Liverpool’s natural game, when pushed higher on the field (Brighton out at the end of last season, for example) and is able to play fast and interchangeable things with Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mané.
What does Klopp see as its long-term future? Or, at least, his medium-term future during this title defense? And this under a cloud of an emerging Curtis Jones who has proven his malleability by moving between all of roles in 90 minutes.
This is a free hit. Klopp should build his midfield structure around whatever he wants Keita to be this season. The player will get space. Even with 80 percent fitness, should to flourish. So let’s see how the manager plans to roll it out the rest of the way.
Watch out for: using Naby Keita
Andrew Beasley: This is a match to savor. Liverpool have so few games that they count for absolutely nothing these days, so it will be fascinating to see how they play when pressure-free. It also represents a very good opportunity for some of the lower lights of Jürgen Klopp’s team to claim more playing time.
Neither Divock Origi nor Takumi Minamino have grasped the opportunities they have been given in 2020/21, and that includes earning an hour each at the home game with Midtjylland. They are probably the ones who have the most to gain from this match between two clubs with nothing to play for.
Apart from that, what interests me the most is to see how a Liverpool with little strength faces a high-quality pressure team. Midtjylland succeeded with 36 percent of their pressures at Anfield, the best performance of any opposing team in the Reds’ 16 league and European games this season.
The Danes are third in the Champions League for pushing the hit rate in 2020/21 (Ajax is the best) and although they have nothing to play for, they will want to sign with a win. How well Liverpool handle their press will likely determine whether they win or lose.
Watch out for: the Midtjylland press
[ad_2]
