The changes that helped Liverpool stun Arsenal

Liverpool’s delight at winning this heavyweight FA Cup tie was proportional to the despair felt by Arsenal, whose promising play was wasted by their lack of cutting edge. By contrast, Jürgen Klopp’s team have now scored 28 goals from the 75th minute onwards in all competitions — as many goals as they have conceded in total. It is a propensity to come on strong in the latter stages that was the deciding factor here, after Arsenal had squandered enough opportunities to put them in a healthy lead.

Liverpool would have counted themselves fortunate to go in at half-time a goal behind, let alone level. They did not waste the opportunity to punish Arsenal. Despite several key players being absent, including Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, the visitors improved sufficiently in the second half to deliver the knockout blows.

Considering Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal, it rubbed salt into the wounds that it was an own goal from Jakub Kiwior that gave Liverpool the lead, glancing in a Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick. Luis Díaz sealed victory when he fired home after a counter-attack in added time. 

How the managers saw it

“I haven’t seen any other team in the first six months that have generated what we have done against them [Liverpool] in the last two games and we’re not capitalising,” said Mikel Arteta. “When my team plays with that attitude, with that courage, with that desire and do what they’ve done to probably the best team in Europe at the moment in terms of momentum, what can I do? Stay behind them and support them.”

“It’s difficult to prepare for something that Arsenal did tonight,” said Jürgen Klopp. “Especially in the first half, the different set-up with [Kai] Havertz and [Martin] Ødegaard more or less a double 10. It was a 4-2-2-2 with wingers wide, a massive threat. Then we changed obviously as well, quite a bit, and that then caused Arsenal problems.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed experts have picked out three key tactical points from the game...

Arsenal’s ‘different set-up’

In possession, Arsenal’s on-paper 4-3-3 became something of a 4-2-4 (or a 4-2-2-2, as Klopp called it), building against Liverpool’s 4-1-4-1 defensive block. That meant single central forward Kai Havertz dropped short (below), with Martin Ødegaard as the 10 operating mainly in the right inside channel. Bukayo Saka held the width on Arsenal’s right, with Reiss Nelson on the left narrowing much more. Nelson looked to move and receive inside Trent Alexander-Arnold, especially when Havertz pulled his marker Ibrahima Konaté out of Liverpool’s back line.

In the first half, Arsenal made chances through open-play combinations and breaking Liverpool’s midfield unit. Nelson became even more important as the half progressed, moving further infield as Kiwior pushed forward from left-back (below). The home side then had three players between the lines, with Saka still operating wide right.

Whenever Arsenal broke through Liverpool’s block via their double pivot of Declan Rice and Jorginho, their central attackers combined and penetrated the box. It was a dominant first-half display from Arteta’s team, but lacked the finishing desperately needed to capitalise.

Arsenal’s press

Arsenal’s high press was very effective in the first half. In these moments, they converted into a defensive 4-4-2; Liverpool often built with a back three, as Alexander-Arnold inverted from right-back. Havertz and Ødegaard forced the ball right where possible (below), with Havertz jumping more regularly and on to the goalkeeper when required. Ødegaard started slightly deeper, but helped to force the play right. Jorginho and Rice then jumped on to Liverpool’s closest central midfielders, behind Ødegaard, limiting the away side’s build-up.

Liverpool tried to respond by pushing Joe Gomez — who had been a clear pressing trigger (above), especially as a right-footed left-back – higher. Saka simply followed his run, with Rice then jumping on to whichever Liverpool player moved wide – Curtis Jones, in the example below. Here, the press was still supported inside by a very high Jorginho.

Havertz continued to jump first, forcing the play right, with Ødegaard following outwards. The success of Arsenal’s press in the first half helped them work a substantial 12 attempts to Liverpool’s two.

Klopp and Arteta’s second-half adaptations

For the second half, Klopp moved Darwin Núñez to the left, Luis Díaz to the right, and pushed Cody Gakpo into the central-forward role. Harvey Elliott then dropped into central midfield, with Alexander-Arnold still looking to invert where possible. The latter’s forward passing into the front line helped Liverpool play on the front foot more.

His diagonal passes into the wingers (below) worked to progress Liverpool over Arsenal’s compact covering of the central spaces. Even if the visitors lost the ball from these attacks, it gave them an opportunity to press high or counter-press in Arsenal’s half much more. This helped them gain both territory and momentum.

Arteta’s introduction of Gabriel Martinelli for Nelson on 62 minutes helped swing momentum back towards Arsenal. Martinelli’s direct dribbling, 1v1 presence and ability to drive into the final third tested Alexander-Arnold. It also served to delay the Liverpool captain’s movements into central midfield, as he was concerned about leaving the wide-left spaces free for Martinelli on transition.

As a result, additional Liverpool defenders were drawn over to deal with Martinelli, leaving spaces and players free on the far side (below). When Arsenal worked the ball from left to right in the final third — usually from crosses — they had potential match-winning moments. Again, though, they lacked a clinical touch.

Klopp introduced Diogo Jota on 59 minutes for Gakpo, and the substitute hit the bar from a header before later playing Díaz in to score the clincher. Jota’s addition into the central-forward role also gave Liverpool better central connections to play through Arsenal’s block. Jota, Díaz and Núñez worked very well on the break and through the central spaces, when both wide attackers narrowed to combine (below).

Alexander-Arnold ended the game as a permanent single pivot. There, he demonstrated his ability to break lines into the narrow front trio, giving Liverpool  much more purposeful attacking combinations than at any point in the game. It was ultimately the strength of Liverpool’s attack, compared with Arsenal’s, that decided this cup tie.

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