Liverpool 0 Manchester United 0: tactical analysis

Liverpool and Manchester United played out a goalless draw that failed to live up to the billing of a game between English football’s most successful clubs. For United — who had lost 12 of their 24 games in all competitions before going to Anfield — a clean sheet and a point was a good result. For Liverpool, who missed the chance to regain top spot in the Premier League, it was an afternoon of frustration.

In four of their previous five Premier League games against United, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool had scored four, five, four and seven goals, respectively. A solitary goal in this game would have seen them score in a club record 35th consecutive match in all competitions. These were among the reasons that much of the talk before the game — although not from either manager — had been of Erik ten Hag’s team being lambs to the slaughter.

Liverpool did in fact register a club record of sorts, but only for the most shots in a Premier League game without scoring (since it has been recorded from the 2003/04 season onwards) — 34 in total. United had just five efforts on goal, although they had as good, if not better chances to break the deadlock.

Klopp and his coaching staff did their best to help conjure up a goal, with two rounds of substitutions, on 61 and 78 minutes. Meanwhile, a red card for United’s Diogo Dalot in added time came too late to have any impact on the game.

How the managers saw it

“We should have scored, we had the opportunities and should have had more clear-cut chances,” said Klopp.

“I can’t remember such a dominant performance against United — even the 7-0 they were more in the game. If we play like this, it is difficult for the opposite team to get out of their own half. The way United defended was clean with a lot of passion.”

“When you stay in the game, and you are disciplined in your game plan, finally it opens up and then you can take your chances,” said Ten Hag. “If we bring this in every game, then first of all we are a hard team to beat. Then, from that point, we can go on and win games — and also big games.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have picked out the key tactical points from the stalemate at Anfield.

Liverpool’s right side

In the first half, the hosts’ right side was purposeful. A dropping Mo Salah and initially deeper Trent Alexander-Arnold pulled their markers towards the touchline. From there, Dominik Szoboszlai made penetrative runs, dragging his marker Sofyan Amrabat with him, which provided space for Alexander-Arnold and Salah to link up. Szoboszlai’s runs in behind aided Salah, who worked moments where he delivered into both Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz. The latter narrowed from wide left, as left-back Kostas Tsimikas overlapped for Liverpool.

Díaz — narrowing on almost every Liverpool attack — soon found pockets of space to help link play in central areas. He, along with Ryan Gravenberch as Liverpool’s left-side number eight, often drew in Manchester United’s central midfielders. Szoboszlai moved forward to occupy Shaw, freeing Salah wide on the right to receive and continue combining on this side.

Although Liverpool worked regular final-third entries in the first half, they struggled to create clear chances. The final ball in particular, which was needed to penetrate United’s back line, lacked consistent quality.

Manchester United’s build-up

Ten Hag’s team initially attempted to build short, especially from goal-kicks. Diogo Dalot moved inside to join Amrabat as the double pivot, with Luke Shaw staying wide left (below). From here, Liverpool pressed aggressively, with Salah and Núñez jumping on to United’s centre-backs. The hosts’ number eights covered United’s adapted double pivot, with Alexander-Arnold extremely high to jump on Shaw.

As a result, United struggled to build with any quality, but also risked going behind as Liverpool often regained high. Because United had to defend regular waves of attacks and corners, they restarted from goal-kicks often. This allowed Liverpool to continue pressing high.

Kobbie Mainoo worked wide (below) to help give United’s right side some balance during deeper build-up, but the visitors still struggled to build through Liverpool’s press. Once they began playing over with clipped balls into their front line, United took six or seven Liverpool players out of the equation.

With both Liverpool full-backs high on Shaw and Mainoo, United then had the opportunity to attack the hosts’ open back line. But United failed to pin, secure and combine high up the pitch from these balls over the press. What it did mean, however, was that any loss of possession occurred higher up the pitch, as opposed to well inside their own half.

Tactical changes

As United defended in a much deeper block in the second half, naturally they moved into a counter-attacking state upon regaining possession. With Liverpool committing players forward, United started to find their front line with ease. The gaps for them to play forward were covered less by Liverpool’s middle unit, with United’s front three often 3v3 (below) against the Liverpool back line. United had a few opportunities to take the lead prior to Klopp’s first set of changes, and then in the moments after, but Ten Hag’s team lacked quality inside the penalty area.

Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez were added to the hosts’ right, replacing Szoboszlai and Gravenberch on 61 minutes. Alexander-Arnold moved permanently inside, alongside Endo (below), with Klopp converting Liverpool into a 4-2-4.

Gomez provided width on the right, similar to Tsimikas on the left, with Gakpo and Díaz narrowing and running beyond. They joined Salah and Núñez in a compact front line, trying to break down United’s low-block. Although this gave Liverpool extra numbers forward, it also give United opportunities to counter-attack more frequently around Liverpool’s two central midfielders.

Klopp reverted back to a 4-3-3 structure on 78 minutes, bringing on Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones for Núñez and Díaz. Elliott played alongside Alexander-Arnold and Endo in central midfield (below). This provided better cover underneath Liverpool’s attacking play, almost totally nullifying the visitors’ dangerous counter-attacks.

Salah became the sole central forward (above), impressively linking play into narrowing, makeshift wingers in Jones and Gakpo. Both full-backs continued to overlap, providing width, crosses and additional runs in behind.

Despite Liverpool working a late flurry of attacking moments, their decision-making of when to shoot let them down, as did their individual quality when 1v1. United’s low block held out for an impressive clean sheet.

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