Liverpool: How to get success against Premier League leaders after Manchester United claimed Anfield draw
Liverpool's leaky right-hand side has been targeted by opposition teams at Anfield; the last six goals they have conceded at home have all been created down the left; Trent Alexander-Arnold has often been exposed and had a torrid time against Man Utd last weekend
Wednesday 8 January 2025 19:28, UK
Three teams - Nottingham Forest, Fulham and most recently Manchester United - have travelled to Premier League leaders Liverpool and come away with a positive result this season, and all have played a similar style of football.
The latest example - United's well-earned 2-2 draw - was billed pre-match as a Liverpool landslide, such is the current chasm between the two clubs.
But Ruben Amorim had done his homework, just like Marco Silva and Nuno Espirito Santo before him.
United attacked consistently down their left, exposing Trent Alexander-Arnold's well-known weakness, as Diogo Dalot's numerous scurries forward yielded chance after chance. Bruno Fernandes then crafted the perfect entry for Lisandro Martinez to slam home.
The visitors' second was much the same, as Alejandro Garnacho's left-sided raid provided a sweeping cross for Amad Diallo to convert first time. Fifty-four per cent of United's attacking touches targeted Alexander-Arnold's third of the pitch, something of a trend.
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The last six goals Liverpool have conceded at Anfield have all come down the left, which is swiftly becoming a thorn in the side of Arne Slot's systematic demand for control.
As well as preying ruthlessly on the over-exposed left flank, United pressurised with balls over the top. Nearly 80 per cent of Andre Onana's kicks went long. It proved a simple but effective way of turning Liverpool's high line around and forced the typically calm Virgil van Dijk to retreat a few yards.
Rasmus Hojlund then played off the shoulder of Ibrahima Konate, a yard off the pace following December's injury lay-off, while Fernandes and Amad roamed the pockets of space in between.
"Man Utd's front three pinned Liverpool and Fernandes gave Alexander-Arnold a real problem," examined Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football. "Their 3-4-3 system got the better of Liverpool's 4-2-3-1."
Slot's take was similar: "United had a very good game plan; no build up, go long and don't give us a chance to press high. It's more about the opponents' plan whenever we drop points."
Slot is right but neglected to address his side's weak spot until the 86th minute when Conor Bradley emerged from the bench to replace Alexander-Arnold. The same thing happened against Fulham in mid-December and here is where the pattern becomes impressed.
Silva understood the assignment just as Amorim did.
Fulham's opener was created - you've guessed it - wide left as Harry Wilson sprayed the ball to playmaker Alex Iwobi, drifting between Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander-Arnold, and he found Antonee Robinson's overlapping run.
Before you know it, Andreas Pereira had peeled off Andy Robertson at the back post to volley home - the Scotsman endured a difficult afternoon against United too.
The same culprits were involved in Fulham's second as Robinson ran off the back of Alexander-Arnold, his zone again deliberately overloaded, before latching onto Iwobi's pass (yes, from the left) to tee up Rodrigo Muniz.
Callum Hudson-Odoi's winner when Forest triumphed at Anfield in September relied upon slightly more individual ingenuity but that all-round display, which forced familiar Liverpool failings, appears to have set a precedent.
Bradley might have been the right-sided full-back on that occasion but the outcome was no less damaging. Liverpool's inconsistency at right-sided centre-half - Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and by emergency measure Gravenberch have all taken their turn - has not helped either.
The Reds' imbalanced defence and inability to cope with strategic positioning of a No 10 who can play between the lines has been modelled by three teams you would expect Liverpool to beat this season.
If Slot's side cannot press high with a defensive line that plays beyond the halfway point, they are not nearly as effective.
Both Fulham and United forced Liverpool far deeper than they are comfortable playing, using width in advantageous areas to drag players out of position, while the foremost striker stays high to create gaps. Leicester - the other visitor to Anfield in the same period - allowed Liverpool to play almost entirely in their half and were beaten 3-1.
"Alexander-Arnold was constantly caught between Fernandes and the wide wing-back Dalot," spotted Carragher in his recent MNF analysis. Iwobi played the exact same role a few weeks back and Morgan Gibbs-White for Forest before that.
And yet Liverpool's shortcomings are so often counteracted by their electricity up top. They have the firepower to pick off teams at will and have recovered 13 points from losing positions in the Premier League this term, having trailed in four of their last six.
Maintaining a healthy lead as title favourites will be Slot's sole aim - but evidence proves they can be got at with an ambitious and targeted game plan.
Having the bravery to try is, of course, another thing entirely.
Watch Tottenham vs Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Football; kick-off 8pm.
