Liverpool are nearly the best in everything in the Premier League.
They are in first place in the table with 53 points, six above Arsenal, who have 47 points, knowing that the Reds played one less game.
In the UEFA Champions League, the situation is nearly the same, holding the top position with 21 points from seven matches.
Last Saturday, Liverpool Crashed Ipswich Town 4-1 in a great match for The Reds.
However, the match witnessed an important event tactically: Ipswich Town’s goal from a corner kick and other chances from corner kicks.
Before this goal, Arne Slot‘s side hadn’t conceded any goal from corners in the Premier League.
Despite having conceded just a goal from corners (with Newcastle United and Aston Villa), this match may be a key for the upcoming opponents to know how to overcome Aaron Briggs‘ defending scheme.
In this tactical analysis, we will discuss the variation of defending tactics between Jürgen Klopp‘s era and the current one, highlighting potential gaps in the current scheme.
Liverpool Tactics Under Jürgen Klopp Last Season
As shown below, Liverpool’s previous scheme generally consisted of six zonal defenders (green), two players in the second line (yellow), a short-option defender (orange), and a rebound defender standing near the edge of the box (pink).
It was a good general scheme, but it had a weakness: Trent Alexander-Arnold was the last zonal defender, but they put Virgil van Dijk as the zonal defender before him, giving him the freedom to predict the cross and go to help him.
They also depended on Alisson Becker, who is so clever at claiming the ball in the air, to go out and claim the ball before going to the far post.
Notably, the two players (yellow) have a different role than the traditional man markers.
From the beginning, they don’t go to the mark; they stand waiting for certain runners or runners coming to specific areas, depending on the opponent.
Thus, you can name them awaiting markers or second-line defenders with specific roles.
You can find out their specific role in that analysis.
Liverpool Tactics Under Arne Slot
As shown below, the current scheme is five zonal defenders (green) without Alexander-Arnold, who became a man marker and then a short-option defender (orange).
Due to this, they now have three man markers, but they use them as nearly traditional man markers, starting with the attackers.
Note: Despite getting rid of Alexander-Arnold as a weakness, having one less zonal defender means that the last zonal defender has a bigger area to defend on the far post.
Moreover, they assigned van Dijk, who was a strong point near the far post, as a zonal defender aligned to the near post.
Focusing on the new role of the man markers as traditional man markers, we should know that they still prioritise the zonal marking, so the best players are assigned as zonal defenders.
Hence, it is a bit easy for a strong attacker to beat his man marker.
Moreover, the attacker can make certain moves, making it difficult for the man marker to keep tracking him.
Let’s see how.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, the attacker starts at a high point near the penalty spot and will move from the middle to the far post when the taker touches the ball.
As shown below, this feint to the far post at this time makes it more difficult for the marker to keep tracking the ball and the attacker simultaneously, which is called an orientation problem.
In the photo below, the attacker could reach the far post before his marker, but Alisson Becker claims the ball, and the last zonal defender (usually Ryan Gravenberch) is ready, too.
Liverpool’s Far-Post Weakness
Ipswich Town have found a way to target the far post directly and after short corners.
Let’s see how they started their trials in the game!
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, Liverpool defend with five zonal defenders (green), a short-option defender (orange), a rebound defender (pink) and the remaining three are man markers.
The three numbered attackers in the six-yard have the blocking roles, the first two players block the last zonal defenders while the third goes to block the goalkeeper to make sure the ball goes to the area after the last zonal defender (Ryan Gravenberch) who is also pushed inside.
The two targeted players start high with two man markers (out of the shot).
As shown below, they use the same curved runs from the middle to the far post to make the markers suffer from the same orientation problem.
The plan works, but the cross wasn’t optimum and was near Alisson who is also difficult to be blocked without a foul.
After that, they could score their single goal in the match.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, they attack the box with six attackers, so they have three free attackers.
The first one fakes a run to the near post, while the other two block the last two zonal defenders.
As shown below, they use a little floated cross over the zonal line to make it hard for both the goalkeeper and the first zonal defenders to get the ball.
The first runners fake a run to the near post, attracting the attention of the first zonal defenders (especially Virgil van Dijk).
Meanwhile, the two targeted players (the two black circles) use the same curved run to make the defenders lose contact with them.
The plan works, and the result is a goal, as shown below.
You can say that happened because Liverpool lost some of their good players because of substitutes.
Still, you can find below the same block to the last zonal defender (Ryan Gravenberch) and the same orientation problem to the man marker (Dominik Szoboszlai).
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, the same key steps are followed for the essential players.
Still, Manchester United used an out-swinging cross that targeted a far area, making it difficult to convert it directly into a goal.
Hence, the same steps work as shown below.
Sudden Short Corners
As one more difference, the rebound defender (Mohamed Salah) starts very deep near the penalty spot.
It allows him to cut any direct flat passing lane from the taker to the penalty spot and to stand in this important area to get the second ball, especially since the attackers can drag the markers away.
However, this distance from the edge of the box places him very far from the goal.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, this direct grounded pass is played to the rebound player, who moves suddenly to receive the ball, exploiting that Mohamed Salah is too far to react quickly.
At the same time, one of the attackers (the black circle) tries to drag his man marker toward the goal to postpone the pushing up of the defensive line.
Two runners stand with two man markers (out of the shot).
One will go to the far post while the zonal line goes up, focusing on the moving ball.
As shown below, the short-option defender (Alexander-Arnold) is forced to go to the ball and finds himself against two players.
The first two zonal defenders try to reach behind him to help.
As shown below, the zonal line (green) becomes disorganised while the runner moves on the blind side of the defenders.
At the same time, some defenders take the attention of the remaining three zonal defenders, trying to block them, preventing them from stepping back to free the targeted area.
The offside player (circled in white) tries to delay the push-up of the line to make his mate (circled in black) onside and receive a potential pass from him after receiving it.
The plan works, but the cross isn’t optimum, as shown below.
Other Ideas
Brentford have also shown a potential idea that can be carried out against Liverpool.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, Brentford have five attackers against three-man markers, which means that they have two free attackers.
One of them (yellow) blocks Virgil van Dijk, while the other (blue) is the targeted player.
He starts on the zonal defender’s blind side and runs in a curved path.
Brentford have also three players on the edge of the box trying to take the attention of Alexander-Arnold and Salah not to cut the lane of this cross.
The plan works, but the first zonal defender gets the ball, as shown below.
The same routine can be used with a player asked to block this zonal defender or fakes a run to take his attention.
Tottenham also had a great idea to target the area in front of the near post by an out-swinging cross.
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) January 28, 2025
As shown below, the first free player (the black arrow) fakes a run to drag the first zonal away while the other (the yellow arrow) comes from Virgil van Dijk’s blind side to block him to prevent him from going to the targeted area or at least delay him.
The three runners stand in two forms, one against one, while the targeted player is the first one of the blue stack.
This stack makes it difficult for the man marker to control the marking over the attacker from all sides (as the one in black).
Hence, the two-man markers can’t predict who will go to the right and who to the left, so when the targeted player moves suddenly, he has a little space of separation between him and his marker.
This separation is shown below.
The plan works, but the cross isn’t optimal, so the targeted player can’t control the ball well.
Conclusion
In this analysis, we have discussed the variation of the defending scheme in corners between Klopp‘s era and the current one, highlighting potential gaps in the current scheme.
In this set-piece analysis, we have also shown the potential gaps in Liverpool’s defending corners and how upcoming opponents can exploit them.
