Premier League 2020/21: Aston Villa vs Liverpool – tactical analysis

The 2020/21 Premier League season had got off to an interesting start and heading into game week four; it was already a season full of goals galore. The first few fixtures of the game week proved no different, with West Ham and Newcastle putting three past Leicester and Sheffield United respectively before Spurs thumped Manchester United six goals to one. Leeds United had held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw as well, and as Liverpool travelled to Villa Park, Aston Villa were hoping that they could also produce an incredible result against the champions. In this tactical analysis, we will look at the tactics of both Liverpool and Aston Villa from their enthralling fixture.

Lineups

In the first part of the analysis, we shall look at how the sides lined up.

Sadio Mané and Allison missed out for the visitors due to illness and injury respectively and summer signing Diogo Jota along with deputy goalkeeper Adrián made their way to the starting lineup. Georginio Wijnaldum had looked to be on his way to Barcelona with the side bringing in Thiago as well, but the Dutch midfielder was almost certain to stay on for the season. Apart from this, Jürgen Klopp’s side lined up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.