Tactical Review: Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa.

Tactical Review: Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa.

Liverpool tactics.

Brendan Rodgers had the UEFA Champions League midweek fixture very much in mind when he picked his starting XI without Raheem Sterling. The Reds boss started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mario Balotelli as the centre forward.

Usually Steven Gerrard starts as the holding midfielder with Jordan Henderson assuming a more advanced central midfield role but in this game the pair had to alternate. When Henderson dropped to initiate play, Gerrard would push on to support play and the other way round.

In possession, Liverpool had to build from the back with full-backs Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo providing width in attacks. Central defenders Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho had to split allowing either Gerrard or Henderson to drop in, collect the ball and initiate play.

The wide attacking midfielders, Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic, had to tuck inside to support Balotelli. Philippe Coutinho started as the central attacking midfielder with the task of unlocking Aston Villa through the middle with key passes.

Out of possession, Lallana and Markovic had to track back with Aston Villa’s full-backs. Since Aston Villa rely mainly on the pace of their three forward players during counter attacks, Liverpool’s full-backs needed to quickly recover to deal with the threats when the Villans tried to quickly break forward.

In central midfield, Coutinho had to drop closer to Gerrard and Henderson to help in ball retention leaving Balotelli up top in a 4-5-1 defensive formation.

Aston Villa tactics.

Aston Villa are always brazen with their ultra-defensive tactics because that approach has served them so well at Anfield over the years. Paul Lambert had a clear plan to frustrate Liverpool by defending in numbers and relying on quick attacks on the break.

Out of possession, Gabriel Agbonlahor led the pressing from the halfway line in a 4-5-1 formation. He had to deny Gerrard the freedom to comfortably initiate Liverpool’s play from the back. Wide midfielders Andreas Weimann and Kieran Richardson had to track back with Moreno and Manquillo to deal with Liverpool’s threat from the flanks.

Tom Cleverley and Fabian Delph, the most advanced central midfielders, had to press for the ball ahead of Ashley Westwood. At the back, full-backs Alan Hutton and Aly Cissokho needed to tuck in closer to the central defenders to keep the defensive line of four spread tightly across the 18-yard box.

Key tactical changes.

Aston Villa’s plan was aided by an early goal so they just kept on protecting their lead throughout the game.

The Reds, on the other hand, had a game to chase and just after half-time, Brendan Rodgers switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Henderson pushing forward alongside Coutinho. That change allowed Gerrard to concentrate on dictating play from a deep position while Liverpool’s movement of the ball in the offensive-third increased with an extra body added.

Still Aston Villa managed to deny Liverpool from creating quality chances with their compact 4-5-1 formation.

Rodgers eventually turned to a 4-4-2 diamond formation with the double introduction of Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini up top. Sterling finished the game at the tip of the diamond with Gerrard at the base, while Coutinho and Henderson operated just ahead of their captain.

Villa held on to their lead by working very hard, defending in numbers and barely committing numbers forward.