Liverpool vs Arsenal: Klopp's Defensive Masterclass

We always attribute Liverpool as this mighty attacking team which always presses high and fast and goes to goal with speed and precision. Let's look at it from a different perspective. What does Liverpool do when they don't have the ball? What do they do in their defensive moment which makes them an unstoppable attacking threat?

Defensive-Third

Liverpool employs aggressive pressure even in their defensive-third, making the opponent midfield uncomfortable on the ball. Their wing-backs, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson, put pressure higher up the pitch and their centre-backs, Van Dijk and Matip, wait for the long balls and give cover in deep areas. This makes the opponent play long balls forcefully in wide areas and has a greater chance of them losing the ball.


Middle-Third

As soon as Liverpool loses the ball in the midfield, they tend to aggressively pressure the ball and win it as soon as they can. Players who are away from the game-centre try to organise so that the opponent is forced to play back or play long to win the 2nd ball.

Final-Third

Liverpool go all out while pressuring, by blocking passing lines and forcing the opponent to pull offensive players behind to play out from the back or directly play long behind the defensive line. If the opponent tries to play long and win 2nd balls, Liverpool overloads the area and creates numerical advantage to win the ball and attack swiftly.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis and I'm eagerly looking forward to your invaluable feedback, suggestions and ideas. Do like, share and follow the page to show your love!

Football - Analysed!


(Video and Statistics Credits - WyScout.com)