Can Liverpool front three of Salah, Gakpo and Nunez fire them to top four?
Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez have all been among the goals for Liverpool over recent weeks but Sunday was the first time the trio had been on the scoresheet in a single game.
The Reds romped to a 7-0 win over Manchester United and Jurgen Klopp’s new-look attack all netted doubles in what could only be described as a finishing clinic by the hosts.
There have been some suggestions that it was just 'one of those games' with Liverpool scoring seven of their eight shots on target but the home side did finish the match with an expected goals (xG) haul of 3.79.
Yes, the players were clinical and took their opportunities but the team also created a number of high-value opportunities and that shouldn’t be ignored. For a little context the Reds had an xG total of just 2.45 in their 7-1 win over Rangers earlier this season.
Premier League to finish outside top four (odds via Sky Bet)
- Brighton - 1/16
- Tottenham - 1/3
- Newcastle - 4/11
- Liverpool - 8/11
- Manchester Utd - 9/2
- Manchester City - 16/1
- Arsenal - 25/1
Odds correct at 1200 GMT (07/03/23)
How has Klopp built a functioning front three?
So how did Jurgen Klopp’s side manage to cause the visitors so much trouble at Anfield?
After all, this was a United side with just one defeat in their last 22 matches across all competitions, that hadn’t conceded from open play when Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro were in the starting XI.
The truth is that Klopp didn’t tweak much specifically for this game.
Liverpool’s new-look system has been in the works for well over a month now. In fact, the changes coincide with their upturn in form. The Reds have taken 13 points from a possible 15 while keeping five consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League.
During this run, Liverpool have scored 13 times with Gakpo finding the back of the net on four occasions, Darwin scoring three goals in four appearances and the record-breaking Salah chipping in with four goals and an assist.
'A blend of previous systems'
It was quite a subtle tweak too. The system now seems to blend a few of the previous systems together with Klopp once again deploying a false-nine while also asking his wide forwards to attack inside spaces.
However, he’s also taken an idea from last season and added it into the equation.
Following on from the arrival of Luis Diaz last season, Liverpool had to change their attacking structure. The former Porto man is more of a winger and would often receive the ball on the touchline.
It meant that whenever the centre-forward for the Reds would drop to link play, there would be no real presence centrally. So instead of having the right-sided midfielder looking to create space for Salah with off-the-ball runs, they would instead push higher centrally and almost play as a second striker.
The shape would almost be 2-4-2-2 in possession, as you can see in the screenshot above.
Liverpool have taken that idea and evolved it.
Instead of having the wide forwards in wide areas, they’ve tasked Salah and Darwin with pushing into central zones.
Flooding the centre
Against Everton, Klopp went with a midfield three of Stefan Bajcetic, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson. The latter would make up part of the two with Gakpo behind Salah and Darwin.
The decision to have them tuck inside essentially pins the opposition’s back four. In the still above, a long ball in the direction of the Liverpool No27 sees Seamus Coleman and Conor Coady get drawn to him while James Tarkowski positions himself to sweep.
This then leaves Salah one-versus-one with Vitalii Mykolenko on the opposite side of the pitch.
Liverpool have Gakpo and Henderson in positions to pick up second balls but also have cover behind them in Fabinho and Bajcetic if the former two are bypassed.
The Reds did the same against United, though this time it was Henderson sitting alongside Fabinho while Harvey Elliott pushed on to support Gakpo.
The idea was almost identical though.
Salah and Darwin would tuck inside to occupy all four defenders whenever Liverpool wanted to go long.
Gakpo and Elliott would float in the spaces between the defence and the midfield to pick up any second ball, like the one in the above example.
Jamie Carragher made a good point on Monday Night Football too.
He put together a feature on how Liverpool’s box midfield caused the away side all kinds of problems. Erik ten Hag set his team up to essentially go man-for-man without the ball.
Gakpo the spare man
Fred would press Henderson, Casemiro was tasked with keeping tabs on Elliott while Wout Weghorst was deployed as the attacking midfielder to close off the supply to and from Fabinho.
If the ball was on the Liverpool right, Fernandes would push on to Trent Alexander-Arnold while Marcus Rashford would look to rush Ibrahima Konate into a mistake or a misplaced pass.
But, as you can see above, Gakpo always seemed to be an outlet for Liverpool because the back four was always occupied by the narrow wide forwards.
In this instance, Martinez does step up but this then leaves Salah in a one-on-one situation with Luke Shaw with acres of space while Varane has to watch how that unfolds while also keeping an eye on Darwin.
In the next example, however, nobody steps up to get close to Gakpo and Liverpool end up taking the lead.
The United shape is clear for all to see. They have Casemiro, Weghorst and Fred tracking, to an extent, Elliott, Fabinho and Henderson. Gakpo is free though, circled on the halfway line.
He is a potential out-ball for Liverpool here but Alisson instead opts to clip a pass to Robertson on the left.
'New system that finally has balance'
If Robertson threads a pass down the line, Varane would’ve been forced to defend the channel leaving Gakpo and Salah against Martinez and Shaw in the penalty area.
That would’ve been favourable for the Reds. Instead, the left-backs cuts inside before playing a perfectly weighted pass to the Dutchman who finishes off the move to give the Reds the lead.
Liverpool have a solid base to build from, sustain attacks and prevent counters while the goal threats are able to impact the game from central areas instead of finding themselves isolated.
This new system finally has a balance to it that previous ones this campaign never truly had, and with it comes a new hope.