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Liverpool have gotten used to completely dismantling Arsenal with Jürgen Klopp. Of the five Premier League meetings between the two teams at Anfield since Klopp’s arrival, four have resulted in Liverpool victories, with only one draw in January 2016. The aggregate score for those matches is 18-6 in Liverpool’s favor .
It hasn’t been that simple away from home, but prior to last season Liverpool had won one and tied two of their three visits to the Emirates with Klopp, scoring eight times in the process. For so long, Liverpool have ruthlessly exploited Arsenal’s soft belly, simultaneously exposing their technical and physical shortcomings, as well as a fragile collective mindset.
Until recently, that is. Both at Emirates at the end of last season and then at Community Shield last month, Arsenal was a very different proposition under Mikel Arteta: defensively robust, tactically disciplined and dangerous on the counter. It’s not exactly exciting to watch for the most part, but it is enormously effective in battling Liverpool.
Of course, there were mitigating factors in both cases. The 2-1 loss at the Emirates came after Liverpool had already secured the title and was ultimately the product of a pair of outlandish mistakes by Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker towards the end of a first half in that Liverpool was the dominant force. .
The Community Shield, meanwhile, was always going to be a somewhat odd occasion given the lack of preparation, compounded by the absence of key figures in Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. If the penalty shootout had played out differently, the narrative would have focused much more on Liverpool’s impressive second-half performance.
Still, Arsenal were at least able to show a level of stamina and solidity that they previously lacked, despite spending large portions of both games on their own half. Despite having 69% and 60% possession in the two respective games, Liverpool could only conjure up two goals.
Due to Arsenal’s clever pressure from the front (you can read a full breakdown of that here), Liverpool’s opening phase of the preparation game was severely restricted, and when they had the ball high up on the field, they fought continuously. to create meaningful opportunities.
Here, for example, Arsenal do indeed land on a back seven and double Alexander-Arnold on width. Usually it would be Kieran Tierney (left back) supporting Bukayo Saka (left back), but here Lucas Torreira completes between the two to add additional coverage.
With the crossing opportunity blocked, the obvious pass would be to go back to Fabinho, but Nicolás Pepe is already closing it. Ideally, Liverpool would have someone filling the red zone, which would then involve at least one defender and open up more room to exploit. As things stand, Alexander-Arnold ends up finding Salah, but he’s immediately under pressure and can’t find anyone with the next pass, so the move quickly breaks down.
A similar problem arises later in the second half on the opposite side of the field. This time Fabinho has the ball in the last third, and Arsenal have all 10 outfield players stationed on the edge of their area. Once again, what Liverpool need is someone in the red space for Fabinho to pass whoever dribbles directly into Arsenal’s backline with the ball, or perhaps looking to play a quick one-two and continue his run into the box. .
Instead, Fabinho has no choice but to step back, letting Van Dijk and Joe Gomez recycle possession again. Although both are very skilled central defenders in the ball game, Arsenal know full well that they are much less likely to be injured by allowing time on the ball in advanced areas, and can instead focus on controlling the space in and around them. the most dangerous areas of Liverpool. attack the players.
However, it is not only in their own defensive third that Arsenal were able to interrupt Liverpool. Here, Joe Willock is pushed towards Fabinho, who turns on himself and passes Gomez. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is ready to shut out Gini Wijnaldum if he receives the ball, while Pepe is well positioned to block the easy out-ball to Andy Robertson out wide, or Naby Keita more central.
Liverpool eventually passed the ball to Robertson via Van Dijk, but it takes several passes between center-backs to do so, giving Arsenal plenty of time to cross and charge the left flank before funneling Liverpool back inside.
They implemented a similar method in the Community Shield (particularly in the first half), as Eddie Nketiah specifically marked Fabinho when Liverpool were looking to play from behind, while Aubameyang (left) and Saka (right) prevented Liverpool from completing backs from receiving. the ball in the open space. With no option to find Fabinho in the center, Robertson and Neco Williams were repeatedly forced to return directly to Gomez and Van Dijk.
Every now and then they could successfully change the game with long-range precise diagonals, but overall, Liverpool’s accumulated play was heavy and predictable, largely due to the way Arsenal subtly closed off the usual passing angles. . and invited them to play in certain areas before polishing the ball.
Liverpool noticeably tightened their control over procedures and attacked much more fluidly after switching to 4-2-3-1 in the second half with the introduction of Keita and Takumi Minamino (plus Fabinho moving to center back), pleading for the Question: how will Klopp prepare tomorrow night and how will he look to avoid the same problems they have faced in these recent encounters?
Thiago Alcântara is a true game changer, as he may be the The best single pivot midfielder in the world by receiving the ball under pressure and walking away from his opponent. Trying to score it when Liverpool build from behind is a totally different proposition than doing it with Fabinho, as Thiago’s exceptional agility and poise allow him to dribble in tough situations on his own, giving Liverpool a totally new route to progress through the rankings. tone.
And if Arsenal gives him time and space in more advanced areas, he has the vision, cunning and technique to hurt them, more than most of Liverpool’s other midfielders. If Thiago plays, Arsenal cannot afford to sit back, move from side to side and focus on congesting the wings. It gives Liverpool a totally different kind of threat down the middle, not necessarily in terms of scoring or directly assisting, but playing the pass before the pass, which creates a scoring opportunity.
However, he faces a late physical fitness test, so if Thiago fails this, Keita is the closest Liverpool has to fulfilling a similar role, and how well he performs that day is likely to be critical. . factor in how often and to what extent Liverpool can unlock Arsenal’s stubborn rear.
Thiago’s physical form will probably also influence what happens in the central defender. If he’s fit, there’s a strong case for going with Thiago, Keita and Wijnaldum as the starting midfield trio (with Henderson ruled out due to injury) and Fabinho alongside Van Dijk at the rear, given how supreme he performed there against him. Chelsea. If Thiago misses, then Fabinho will be needed at No. 6, and Gomez should reposition himself alongside Van Dijk after returning from a minor hit this week.
The injury situation is far from ideal in terms of preparation, and the uncertainty surrounding Alisson’s situation is most concerning, but what Liverpool now have is 180 minutes of evidence to work with from the two recent encounters with the Arteta Arsenal.
Klopp, his coaching staff and the analytics team will have had plenty of time to dig into Arsenal’s approach in detail and figure out how to beat it, with or without Thiago. Now it’s about putting the plan into action to achieve three wins out of three.
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