Liverpool v Burnley tactics: Danny Higginbotham on Liverpool’s issues
Sunday 12 March 2017 15:27, UK
Sky Sports' tactics expert Danny Higginbotham looks at why Liverpool struggle against smaller sides.
Liverpool host Burnley on Sunday looking to avoid the Clarets completing an unlikely double over them this season having won the reverse fixture 2-0 at Turf Moor in August.
That defeat was one of five in the Premier League so far this season against teams in the bottom half of the table. Meanwhile, the Reds are unbeaten against top-half teams.
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"They are probably the best counter-attacking team in the league and that's why they have done so well against the teams around them," says Sky Sports' tactics expert Danny Higginbotham.
"When Liverpool have played the bigger teams this season they have turned defence into attack very quickly and actually outnumbered the opposition."
So why is it so different against the teams lower down the league? As Higginbotham explains, it's a problem brought about by Liverpool's style of play.
Perhaps their setup under Jurgen Klopp is actually ill-suited to dominating the ball.
"Liverpool's highest possessions, more often than not they've actually got nothing from the game," says Higginbotham. "Their lowest possession was actually against Manchester City at home (43.01 per cent).
"The more possession you have the more players you're going to have going forward and the more open you're going to be to the counter-attack.
"What they say is, 'OK Liverpool, you can go backwards, you can go sidewards, but you're not going to get in behind us. So they let Liverpool have possession.
"The full-backs go forwards but their problem is that the centre-backs don't want to go outside the width of the 18-yard box. It's a position where they feel insecure.
"More often than not, centre-forwards will be quicker than centre-backs. So if you're Andre Gray, you want to make that run into there.
"This is Liverpool's biggest problem when they play against the lesser teams."
It is an issue that some of Liverpool's rivals, teams also used to dominating possession, are able to avoid by playing a slightly different defensive system.
"A lot of the top two teams, such as Tottenham and Chelsea, they play with two defensive midfielders, whether that's with three at the back or four at the back," adds Higginbotham.
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"With those two defensive midfielders, what happens is that if it breaks down the right or the left they can go out there. So you have still got your back four.
"But because Liverpool only really defend with a three, there is space down the sides."
Will they leave that space for Andre Gray and Burnley to exploit at Anfield on Sunday? Find out on Sky Sports 1 HD from 3.30pm.
