The 3-1 defeat to Leicester City was another successive defeat for Liverpool this season. Liverpool are not in great form definitely. After winning 7-0 at Crystal Palace in mid-December, the Reds’ performance has declined considerably. Of the 10 Premier League matches that have been undertaken, Liverpool have only been able to win nine points.
The defeat of Pep Guardiola’s men seemed to dispel Liverpool’s hopes of retaining the title. They have big gaps to catch up with Manchester City, who have one additional match. The most likely target is to secure a Champions League ticket. Finishing in the top four will not be easy. Leicester, West Ham, Aston Villa and Everton still have the potential to provide surprises. Chelsea began to rise after Thomas Tuchel became coach. However, the most important thing is that Jurgen Klopp clears up some problems at Liverpool.
The previous defeat to City was inseparable from Alisson’s blunder which failed to respond to Man City’s high pressing well. But this is not the main problem, Alisson is still a world class goalkeeper. “It’s okay because he (Alisson) saved us so many times that I don’t remember how many times. He is clearly a world-class goalkeeper but tonight, things didn’t go well,” Klopp said, quoted by The Athletic.
Klopp must prepare Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak to play as central defenders. Jordan Henderson and Fabinho cannot continue to play in that position. Their quality is very much needed in Liverpool’s midfield. Despite their good aggressiveness, center-back is still not a natural position for them. Several times Henderson and Fabinho looked out of position when defending. Most recently, both of them were unable to keep Ilkay Gundogan well so that the German player could push into the penalty box and score a goal.
Joel Matip will not play until the end of the season, Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez are still suffering from injuries. Davies and Kabak are big hopes for Liverpool to save this season. The effect of Van Dijk’s absence was very significant. Despite being 193 cm tall, Van Dijk has a speed that is decent. These advantages can make Liverpool more comfortable playing with a high defense line. Van Dijk can anticipate the opponent’s breakthrough bait to the back of Liverpool’s last line. The Dutchman often plays as a right center-back, meaning that he is on the same side with Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back. Van Dijk’s presence allowed Alexander-Arnold to overlap more freely.
Back to Liverpool’s problems, the attack phase is also not free from problems. The contribution of goals and assists from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino was not as good as last season. Only Mohamed Salah is still the one who consistently contributes goals. Therefore, if Klopp wants to fill the attacker position, Salah deserves to be the first choice.
In midfield, despite experiencing a decline in performance, Liverpool still dominated every match. They have an average ball possession reaching 60.1%, only Manchester City have a higher ball possession rate than Liverpool. The dominance of this game has resulted in a large number of passes by Liverpool in every match.
MPL gives 0.5 points for every 10 passes a player makes. Jordan Henderson (89.6 passes per match), Fabinho (78.9 passes per match) and Thiago (75.5 passes per match) are the three Liverpool midfielders with the highest number of passes. These three players can also be an option in the Klopp’s future lineup.
The loss of Van Dijk and Matip also affected Liverpool’s attack. Both players are very comfortable with the ball and could have been the initiators of the Liverpool attack. But Liverpool still have their two wing-backs, Andrew Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold who are also active in helping attacks. Only Mane has a better key passes per game than Robertson and Arnold. This means that these two players have a great opportunity to provide assistance and can be an option in the tactical ineup.
Liverpool will face Everton (21/2) and Sheffield (1/3) in the next 2 Premier League matches. On the sidelines of the Premier League, Liverpool will meet RB Leipzig on Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16. It will be interesting to observe whether Klopp is able to bounce back from Liverpool’s deep fall this season.
ASL
