Liverpool outclassed title rivals Man City throughout Sunday’s 2-0 win at Anfield, in another marker of Arne Slot‘s outstanding tactical creativity. Here’s how he did it.
Slot has been effusive in his praise of Pep Guardiola throughout his career, labelling the City boss a major influence.
In his first test against his inspiration, Slot passed with flying colours.
Getting the numbers right
Pep usually springs a surprise in the biggest games, and in this one it was his use of Matheus Nunes as a left winger.
Along with Rico Lewis on the right, he gave City an abundance of midfielders and a narrow shape designed to stop Liverpool dominating the centre of the pitch.
Slot, however, made a choice of his own that was highly effective. He set Liverpool up to press in a 4-1-4-1 shape when City built up.
In theory, City could put six players against Liverpool’s five-man pressing unit, giving them a numerical advantage.
However, the trade-off was that Liverpool had an extra player in defence, with both Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk tight on Erling Haaland.
First-half domination
Despite their advantage in the buildup, City struggled to keep the ball during an electric opening sequence.
Luis Diaz was instructed not to be baited into pressing the goalkeeper, instead waiting for the first pass to be played.
This meant Liverpool’s pressing unit could shift over to one side, putting the free City player as far away from the ball as possible.
This press was so intense, supported by a baying Anfield crowd, that City continually gave up the ball in these situations.
In this example, goalkeeper Stefan Ortega does find the spare man.
But the midfield closes him down so quickly that the ball is worked back instead of forwards, and eventually Ryan Gravenberch is able to anticipate the next pass to intercept…
…before setting up a chance.
Without a real out-ball beyond Haaland, who was double-marked, the only other option was for Ortega to play a clipped ball over the pressing unit and into the space where either Gravenberch or Alexis Mac Allister were alone in front of the back line.
However, the nature of this kind of pass means it has to be floated to drop behind the pressing unit.
This gave the likes of Van Dijk and Gomez ample opportunity to step out and claim it, with their partner still tight on Haaland behind them just in case.
As a result, Liverpool were able to dominate possession.
With City attempting to press high, Liverpool were matched up in one-on-one battles. Mo Salah was trusted to win his battle with Nathan Ake, being Liverpool’s most frequent outlet, while Kyle Walker was targeted by Cody Gakpo as the weak link in City’s defence.
That’s where the first goal came from.
In the aftermath of a set-piece, we saw Dominik Szoboszlai – who covered every blade of grass in the game – drop in at right-back.
This allowed Alexander-Arnold to pick up the ball on the opposite side of the pitch. Without a clear idea of who was marking him, City couldn’t get enough pressure on him.
They still pushed their defensive line up high, though, meaning he could play a perfect ball in behind for Salah to chase.
With the defence in retreat, Gakpo could simply ghost in behind the unaware Walker and turn in Salah’s cross at the back post.
After 15 minutes, Liverpool had 63 percent possession, created 1.20 xG to City’s 0.0, and had won six duels to City’s four. Guardiola could not afford to wait for half-time, so he immediately instructed Manuel Akanji to begin stepping into midfield.
The wisdom of keeping Van Dijk and Gomez doubled up on Haaland was on display here. Akanji at one point was able to step up and pick a pass that eluded Gomez…
…but as Haaland raced onto it, there was Van Dijk to shut him down.
With Haaland marked out of the game, Nunes became their best outlet. But too often, City weren’t quick enough to find him. Here, he is free in space and waving his arms (bottom left)…
…but the ball is worked via Ilkay Gundogan in the centre rather than directly to him, meaning Liverpool can get back into their shape…
…and, with his options limited, Nunes ends up losing the ball to Alexander-Arnold anyway.
At the break, City had made just one attempt on goal.
39 – Manchester City’s first shot attempt at Anfield came in the 39th minute; their longest wait for their first shot of a Premier League match since April 2010 versus Arsenal (58th minute). Frozen. pic.twitter.com/8DfG0SLb6r
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 1, 2024
*First-half statistics via FotMob
Subs in the second
In the second half, City came out playing more direct passes into the final third. With Walker getting forwards to provide width on the right, they were able to create some more chances.
Guardiola then subbed on Jeremy Doku and Savinho – two natural wingers who could stretch the pitch and force Liverpool’s wingers to track back.
As a result, Liverpool were stuck defending deep, without a proper out-ball to relieve pressure.
However, Slot made his own changes at this point.
While most focused on Jarell Quansah’s arrival to help defend the dangerous Doku, it was the addition of Darwin Nunez up front that proved vital.
First, it allowed Diaz to take over the torture of Walker on that wing, with his physicality and trickery allowing him to hold the ball up well against the tiring full-back.
But it also gave Liverpool an out-ball when City’s attacks broke down. It was his relentless charging down of a Liverpool clearance that forced a mistake…
…culminating in a Liverpool penalty.
Up stepped Salah to win the game from the spot and send Liverpool nine points clear at the top.
Victory for the players
It was a superb tactical triumph for Slot. But it was achieved through the individual performances of his players.
Without Diaz’s leading of the press, Alexander-Arnold’s excellent long passes, Salah’s expert holdup play and Szoboszlai’s insane work rate to contribute in every phase of play, the tactical setup would have been exploited and defeated.
It’s a testament to the superb squad Liverpool have constructed, right as their closest rivals are stumbling.
Fortune is smiling on the Reds so far this season, but they deserve credit for making the absolute most of it.
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