League Cup Final 2021/22: The key tactical battles in Liverpool’s cup final win over Chelsea – tactical analysis

On Sunday, February 27th, Liverpool took on Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in the EFL Cup Final. After a fascinating 90 minutes had both teams at a 0-0 stalemate, it went to extra time  and then onto one of the most memorable penalty shoot-outs for some time, with it going down to the goalkeeper’s to decide. Caoimhin Kelleher’s Liverpool came out on top in the shootout, giving Liverpool their first trophy since their Premier League win in the 2019/20 season.

This tactical analysis will break down some of the key tactics we saw in Sunday’s fixture.

Line-ups

Before delving into the analysis it is pertinent to look at the starting line-ups from this game, as well as the formations.

Chelsea opted for a 3-4-3 with Edouard Mendy starting in goal. The back three had Antonio Rudiger and Thiago Silva, as well as Trevor Chalobah coming back into the side after a lengthy layoff, where an injury at the beginning of the year had only seen him manage 11 minutes in the FA Cup against Plymouth Argyle since.

Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta were deployed in the wing-back positions, with the tireless pairing of Mateo Kovačić and N’Golo Kanté partnered together in central-midfielder. 

In attack Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic sat either side of Kai Havertz.

For Liverpool Caoimhin Kelleher started in goal, keeping his place in this cup side. In front of him, Liverpool lined up in a 4-3-3. No surprises were seen in the backline with Trent Alexander Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil Van Dijk, and Andy Robertson comprising their back four.

In midfield, Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita were given the nod to play in central midfield, with Fabinho sitting behind them. Liverpool then lined up with Mo Salah and new boy Luis Diaz either side of Sadio Mané in attack.

Chelsea’s counter-attack

Liverpool shaded the majority of possession in the game, with just over 51%, and whilst they engaged in some longer periods of possession when building attacks, they also had some effective counter-attacks. However, Chelsea consistently offered this threat, with the pace of Mount and and Pulisic, and later on Timo Werner, meaning Liverpool’s defence had to be constantly aware of their pace on attacking transition.

Despite this direct pace available, Chelsea were clever with how they constructed their counters at times.