Liverpool have a ‘blueprint’ from one game this season that they’re likely to replicate v Arsenal
Liverpool face what, in theory, is their most difficult game of the Premier League season tonight as they travel to take on table-toppers Arsenal.
Both teams will sense an opportunity to pounce on positional rivals slipping up on Wednesday night. The Reds could take advantage of damaging results for Chelsea and Manchester United by opening a four-point gap to the teams beneath them, while the Gunners would go eight points clear at the summit with a win after Manchester City and Aston Villa were both held to draws.
Many pundits are tipping Mikel Arteta’s side to win comfortably at the Emirates Stadium, especially with the visitors dropping points in their last two games and failing to convince of late, and LFC could also be without Hugo Ekitike on top of the confirmed absences of Alexander Isak and Mo Salah.
Liverpool likely to copy San Siro ‘blueprint’
In previewing the match for The Athletic, Liverpool-focused writer Andy Jones has advised Arne Slot to use the template for one of our most impressive victories this season as a tactical blueprint for tonight’s encounter.
He wrote: ‘The blueprint against Arsenal is likely to be similar to Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Inter last month. In a tough away trip to an in-form side, Slot’s side limited the opposition to few chances and took theirs when it arrived via a penalty.
‘Arsenal will have more of the ball, opening the door for Liverpool to play on the counterattack, but the options available to Slot lack pace, especially if Hugo Ekitike is absent.’
Jones added that the Dutchman’s ‘safety-first, low-event approach’ – for which he’s been criticised in some quarters – would be ‘more acceptable for a trip to the Emirates than against other opposition’.
Liverpool could take a more cautious approach tonight
In many games this season, Liverpool have dominated possession and been forced to take the initiative against deep-lying defences, often failing to break down such opposition and then being undone by set-piece deficiencies.
The victory at San Siro to which Jones refers is one of only four matches in the current campaign where the Reds haven’t had the majority of the ball (50% possession that night, as per FBref), but they limited Inter to just nine shots and an xG of 0.44 (Sofascore).
Coincidentally, we went into that game off the back of a frustrating draw at home (Sunderland), followed by the costly concession of a stoppage-time equaliser (Leeds). For those results in early December, read Leeds and Fulham respectively over the past week.
Liverpool will be in the unfamiliar role of distinct underdogs tonight, and as Jones pointed out, this is one of the few instances where many LFC fans could excuse Slot for taking a more conservative approach, so long as we carry some threat going forward and show a certain attacking intent.
The San Siro win could indeed be an ideal template to copy at the Emirates, although a dearth of attacking options might make it difficult to implement the 4-4-2 diamond formation which worked so well against Inter.
It’ll take arguably our best performance of the season to halt Arsenal’s gallop, but we’ve already beaten Arteta’s side in this campaign, along with Real Madrid and Aston Villa. Getting a positive result tonight will be difficult but certainly not impossible.
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