Liverpool 4 Chelsea 1: tactical analysis

When Liverpool and Chelsea met in the reverse fixture on the opening day of the Premier League season, the team in red were perhaps fortunate to draw. Nearly six months later, the gap between the two clubs was extended to 20 points in the league, in Liverpool’s favour, courtesy of a dominant display at Anfield. Indeed, Liverpool’s 28 shots from this game was the joint-most on record (since 2003/04) that any side has had in a Premier League match against Chelsea. Their 13 shots on target was the most the Blues have faced in a league match in that time.

Darwin Núñez alone hit the woodwork four times — the first player on record to do so in a single Premier League game. The Uruguayan hit the post with a penalty shortly before half-time, missing the chance to give Liverpool a 3-0 lead. In typical Núñez fashion, he did not let near-misses thwart his endeavour, culminating in an assist for Liverpool’s fourth, to bury any Chelsea comeback dreams. In the process, he took his assist tally to 11 for the season, second only to Bukayo Saka (12) in the Premier League.

Conor Bradley also enjoyed a prolific evening, helping himself to two assists as well as his first Liverpool goal. In doing so, at the age of 20 years and 206 days, he became the youngest Liverpool player to score and assist in a league match since August 2014. That young star for Liverpool a decade ago was Raheem Sterling, who achieved the feat as a 19-year-old. Here, the 29-year-old Sterling cut a peripheral figure, as Chelsea were comprehensively outplayed.

How the managers saw it

“[There were] two or three situations where the press started with Diogo [Jota] instead of Dom [Szoboszlai] and then they pass around us and go through,” said Jürgen Klopp. “Then you have to do a lot of work to sort that out. In that moment, we could do that.”

“The game felt in the first half more dominant than it actually was, like possession-wise. That’s an interesting insight… I’m super-happy with the performance, just because we had problems, we overcame them and had a lot of good moments.”

“It was so clear, they were more aggressive than us,” said Mauricio Pochettino. “For us it was difficult to connect and to play, and always when we recovered the ball with our first or second touch we gave it away again so easily. They won all the duels, I just think they competed better. In all the areas they were better than us; that is why they won.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed experts consider the key tactical themes from the game...

Liverpool’s central movements

Within Liverpool’s usual 4-3-3, right-back Conor Bradley advanced forward and provided width on his side. Luis Díaz held his position on the left of the attack, with Darwin Núñez as the single centre-forward. Núñez worked multiple early shots, as he received against Chelsea’s  poorly co-ordinated centre-back pairing.

Curtis Jones initially dropped to form a double pivot alongside Alexis Mac Allister, with Diogo Jota and Dominik Szoboszlai acting as number 10s. From here, Liverpool formed a central midfield box structure, with Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté building as a back-line trio. Whenever Gomez moved inside from left-back, Díaz was then free to attack Axel Disasi 1v1, in a bigger space. Alternatively, Jones made runs through Liverpool’s left inside-channel, as the hosts’ purposeful movements and rotations (below) caused Chelsea problems throughout the first half.

Chelsea’s out-of-possession 4-4-2 block soon narrowed, with Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher screening in the first line, trying to limit Liverpool’s central access. In response, Liverpool targeted direct passes behind Chelsea’s centre-back pairing, for the lively Núñez (below). The Uruguayan centre-forward proved a consistent threat, hitting the woodwork twice in the opening 20 minutes.

It was Jota who put Liverpool deservedly ahead, again exploiting the weak Chelsea centre-back pairing of Thiago Silva and Benoît Badiashile. Then Bradley — who supplied the assist from wide right for Jota — overlapped to drive a low effort across goal, doubling the lead.

Second-half adjustments

Liverpool’s front trio narrowed in the second half, combining between the lines and narrowing Chelsea’s back four in the process. As such, there weren’t as many direct balls into Núñez, although this was also possibly as a result of Pochettino changing his centre-back pairing. Disasi moved across to partner Thiago Silva, with Badiashile switching to left-back, while Malo Gusto came on for Ben Chilwell and operated at right-back.

Liverpool continued to place multiple players in central midfield, drawing Chelsea in and creating space in wide areas for the switch. In particular, they found the advancing Bradley, who was superb in his 1v1 play, with and without the ball. Van Dijk’s accurate switch found Bradley (below), who drove forward and crossed for Szoboszlai to head home a third for the hosts.

Núñez then crossed from the left for Díaz in the 75th minute, who bullied Badiashile at the far post and slotted home a fourth.

Pressing limits Chelsea’s build

From their starting 4-2-3-1 shape, Chelsea worked only one attempt in the first half, prompting Pochettino to make three substitutions at half-time. As well as Gusto, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku came on for Enzo Fernández and Conor Gallagher, respectively.

Liverpool’s press was organised and aggressive throughout. Although it didn’t result in direct chances, they did limit Chelsea’s ability to progress. Number eights Szoboszlai and Jones jumped out individually to press a Chelsea centre-back, often screening the deepest pivot player in the process (below). Núñez moved half and half, ready to press either the pivot or the spare centre-back. Liverpool’s wingers then narrowed to limit inside-channel access. This worked to force the ball into wider traps, nullifying the majority of Chelsea’s build-up.

The visitors did manage to work a goal on 71 minutes, with their central combinations benefiting from Cole Palmer’s ability to connect within central midfield. Gusto overlapped from right-back, allowing Raheem Sterling to roll inside and work closer to Nkunku, who took his goal well. Carney Chukwuemeka, a 66th-minute substitute, was also a strong threat for Chelsea when receiving and driving forward. With Palmer’s ability to break lines from deep (below), and the front line’s improved securing and maintaining of possession around Liverpool’s centre-backs, Chelsea had a brief spell where they threatened to score again. 

Liverpool adapted their press in response. Cody Gakpo — on for Jota in the 68th minute — pressed inside from Liverpool’s left, screening the advancing Gusto. Jones then covered access into Palmer, with Mac Allister covering potential split passes through the centre, into Nkunku or Chukwuemeka. Díaz — now operating on Liverpool’s right — narrowed to help cover the inside channel, with Badiashile unlikely to overlap from his converted left-back role in the second half. Harvey Elliott — on for Szoboszlai — jumped out from midfield to support Núñez’s press on to Chelsea’s deepest pivot and centre-backs (below). 

All of which helped Liverpool quash Chelsea’s small period of attacking momentum. Díaz’s finish put things to bed, enabling Klopp’s side to end a run of eight games without a victory against Chelsea — including seven consecutive draws — stretching back to September 2020.

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