All or nothing for Man City and Liverpool: The tactics that will define who is going to lift the Premier League trophy – tactical analysis

A very dramatic Premier League season is coming to an end and while many of the teams already know their faith, the most important battle – the title challenge is yet to be decided in the final round of the 2021/22 campaign.

Manchester City and Liverpool have been in a constant battle at the top of the league where the Citizens currently have a point advantage and desperately need the win this weekend to be able to secure the first place and lift the trophy.

The Merseyside, on the other hand, will put all of their efforts to grab the three points against Wolverhampton, but so will be hoping that Aston Villa have the quality to trouble their opponents and Liverpool’s legend Steven Gerard could “help” his former club by earning points against City.

Both City and Liverpool have been very consistent throughout the season, but despite being the most efficient teams in the PL, they do have some vulnerabilities that their opponents could expose and ruin their plans.

While defeating Aston Villa and Wolverhampton might seem like an easy job for Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, they need to approach their final games with tactical clarity, increased awareness and a solid plan B.

In this preview, we will use tactical analysis to explain how both City and Liverpool could win their games, and what should be considered in their tactics to be able to avoid any mistakes.

Liverpool vs Wolverhampton

Liverpool have won all of their last six Premier League matches against Wolves and will be looking to secure another three points on the weekend. Bruno Lage’s side had some strong displays throughout the season but have been inconsistent lately, failing to get a win in six consecutive games and killing their chances for European football next season.

Squad and formation

No surprises are expected from Klopp in terms of the formation and the squad. He will stick to his 4-3-3 set-up and focus on their usual approach of intense pressing and constant attacking.

He gave some rest to his regular starters in the Southampton game, and it is expected that all of his most efficient players will be back in the squad. Mohamed Salah will be motivated to score not only to support his team for the league title but also to stay on top of the Golden Boot competition, where he is tightly followed by Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son.

Joe Gomez most probably won’t be available to the manager after suffering an injury in the team’s last match, although this wouldn’t affect their game-plan as he would reply on Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right where he could take advantage of Wolves’ defensive vulnerability in that area and expose them with his constant attacking movement. Andrew Robertson is expected to be back in the squad as well.

It is unclear if Klopp would give Diogo Jota the starting spot or if he would rather rely on Luis Díaz. Both players could give the team an advantage in certain areas. Jota’s headed attempts on goal could increase the team’s chances in attack, although Wolverhampton, among with Man City, are the teams with the fewest conceded goals from headshots (1). Díaz’s dribbling and creativity, on the other hand, could be very beneficial against Wolves’ overloaded and structured defence. His ball control and positioning could help the Merseyside place between the lines and exploit spaces providing both indirect and direct threat.

Jordan Henderson’s presence in midfield might be crucial as he brings confidence and security, and his leadership qualities will be key in such an important game.

How can Liverpool expose Wolves’ weaknesses?

Wolverhampton are one of the teams with the fewest conceded goals in the league. While they employ a back-three in possession, defensively, they rely on a collective effort and aim to limit the spaces between the lines and block the oppositions’ creativity. They do also rely on quite a high number of direct duels, where they have a considerably high success rate of 60.2%. Even Liverpool’s efficient attack managed to score only two goals in the last two meetings.

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