Sunday 6 November 2016 14:25, UK
Adam Lallana will have a key role to play when Liverpool face Watford on Super Sunday, according to tactical expert Danny Higginbotham.
The Reds head into the weekend level on points with leaders Manchester City and second-placed Arsenal, and they will be looking to extend an 11-game unbeaten run when they welcome the Hornets to Anfield.
Their front three of Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane have gained plenty of plaudits in recent weeks, but Higginbotham feels Lallana could be even more important.
"Everyone is talking about Liverpool's front three and rightly so, but I'd say there's a little more to them than that," he told Sky Sports. "I think Lallana is key as well."
The former Southampton star has scored three goals and claimed three assists in nine Premier League starts so far this season, and Higginbotham believes his clever runs from deep could help Jurgen Klopp's side exploit gaps in Watford's three-man defence.
"This game is going to be interesting because what Liverpool are going to come up against is more than likely a back three," he said. "I wouldn't be surprise if we saw Coutinho and Mane starting that little bit wider, trying to drag the two wide centre-backs out with them.
"At the same time, Firmino will drop that little bit deeper himself, which will then will create space for Lallana to get himself forward."
This season, Higginbotham believes Lallana has been freed up to join the attack by the more defensively-minded midfielders behind him.
"It's a real team effort," he said. "[Jordan] Henderson and [Emre] Can - or [Georginio] Wijnaldum if he's playing - play in a box shape with the centre-backs. It means that both of those players are happy to go into full-back areas to make sure they are nice and compact when going forward. It gives Lallana licence to go forward.
"The movement of the front three, with Lallana joining in and the insurance of having the two sitting midfielders behind them, is fantastic. It's absolutely brilliant to watch and it's shown by the goals that are coming from different areas of the pitch."
Liverpool are heavy favourites for the win, but Watford beat them 3-0 at Vicarage Road last season and Walter Mazzarri's side are on a four-game unbeaten run of their own.
Higginbotham believes Liverpool's defensive midfielders - particularly Henderson - will have to be switched on to the threat posed by Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo.
"Everyone talks about Watford's succession of changing managers, but one thing that doesn't change is Deeney and Ighalo," he said.
"What happened last season was that, when you had Ighalo and Deeney up front, it was near enough two-for-two. The midfielders for Liverpool were pushed that little bit higher up the pitch, so what would happen is the centre-backs were pulled forward and there was space for Ighalo to run into.
"What I think we're going to see now from Liverpool - and they did it very well last week with Christian Benteke - is Henderson sitting on Deeney, which means [Joel] Matip can stay in his area, so that space we talked about is not going to be there.
"Liverpool are going to have a lot of the ball and Watford are probably going to play on the counter-attack, look to play long to Deeney and get Ighalo in behind. That's where Can and Henderson are going to be key.
"Liverpool are fantastic going forward, but they've got to be at their best defensively as well if Watford play a little bit longer."
Despite the threat posed by Watford's front two, however, Higginbotham is predicting a Liverpool victory.
"I think Liverpool are going to be very difficult to stop," he said. "I think there are going to be goals. I'll go for a Liverpool 3-1 win."
