The Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Crystal Palace ended in annihilation of the visitors, who didnt get any real chances in this game and conceded plenty. With arguably the best performance weve seen from the Reds this year, the long wait for the title is nearly over and Liverpool showed themselves as a deserved champions.
In this tactical analysis, I will delve into how Liverpools positional rotations in the build-up and attacking fluidity helped them dominate the game from start to finish, and how Crystal Palace were unable to counter it with their tactics.
Lineups
Jürgen Klopp put out his best team for this game with Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson returning to the starting line-up after missing out on the previous game against Everton. Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez made up a pair of centre-backs, with the Englishman also returning into the line-up after Joël Matip went out injured in the previous game.
Roy Hodgson opted for a 4-5-1 formation with Gary Cahill starting instead of Scott Dann, Crystal Palaces captain Luka Milivojević remained on the bench with James McCarthy starting, and Jordan Ayew played as a lone striker with Christian Benteke on the sidelines. Wilfried Zaha picked up an early injury in the 15th minute and had to be subbed off for Max Mayer. Lastly, Wayne Hennessey replaced Vicente Guaita in goal for this match.
Liverpools build-up
Liverpool used the same tactics when approaching the build-up phase which theyve used for the whole season. In the game against Everton due to the absence of two left-footers, Robertson and Salah, the effectiveness dropped significantly, resulting in only 0,73 xG in that game. With those two players back in the line-up for this game, Liverpool dominated possession and made great use of it during the whole match.
In the build-up, Jürgen Klopp asks his players to create situational back-threes with the help of one of the midfielders. In this game, this concept went to a new extent, with not only midfielders dropping into the backline, but also players from other positions. Here, Alexander-Arnold drops and forms a back-three with Van Dijk and Gomez, while Salah is out wide and Henderson operates behind Crystal Palaces midfield.
