Match date: 17 October 2015

A busy international break for Liverpool saw the sacking of Brendan Rodgers following a string of disappointing performances and results leading back to last year. The Northern Irishman was replaced by Jurgen Klopp, who made his name, particularly, at Dortmund by winning two Bundesliga titles as well as taking the German side to a Champions League final, losing against Bayern Munich.

Mauricio Pochettino was without Eric Dier, who has excelled as a holding midfielder for Spurs, due to suspension. The Argentine continued with a 4-2-3-1 with Dembele and Dele Alli playing as the two holding midfielders with Christian Eriksen playing behind Harry Kane.

Klopp went with a 4-2-3-¼-3-2-1 that saw Adam Lallana return to the team and Divock Origi start up top for Liverpool with Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings, and Christian Benteke all out injured. The midfield three of Milner, Lucas, and Can moved from a 2-1 to a 1-2 throughout the match with Lallana and Coutinho playing wide and in behind Origi at different stages of the match.

Liverpool’s Shape and Pressing

It was expected: Liverpool’s pressing. When the rumours of Klopp’s appointment came about, supporters and analysts started to look at Klopp’s defining gegenpressing that made him and Dortmund so successful in Germany and in Europe. The media, supporters, and analysts asked, ‘Could Klopp bring it to Liverpool?’ He will, and despite so few sessions with a full squad, Liverpool showed good signs of Klopp’s gegenpressing against Tottenham.

In the opening stages of the match, Liverpool showed their newfound, ‘high-octane’ approach to pressing and play. Almost immediately, Liverpool were moving the ball up the field, trying to find Origi as quickly as possible and the Belgian did fairly well throughout the match acting as a target for Liverpool’s quick, vertical passes that Klopp will want. More importantly, in the early stages, was Liverpool’s pressing. Early on, Liverpool had a lot of numbers forward with Origi, Coutinho, Lallana, Milner, Can, and Lucas all getting forward, allowing the early pressing to be a bit more frantic and incessant, forcing Tottenham into a number of turnovers. Below is a good example of Liverpool having numbers forward and swarming Tottenham as soon as the home side got on the ball.

This early pressure saw Liverpool win the ball high up the pitch and attempt to play balls into Tottenham’s penalty area, but there was typically not a target. Rather the support was late, but Liverpool won two corners early on, one which saw Origi hit the crossbar from a header after a flick-on from Emre Can.

As the match went on, Liverpool’s shape really took form and it looked very much like a 4-3-2-1, rather than the 4-2-3-1 that had helped bring success to Klopp while he was at Dortmund. Coutinho and Lallana were given free roles behind Origi, but were also responsible for closing the passing lanes into midfield from the Tottenham centre backs as well as closing down the full backs when Spurs played the ball wide. Milner and Can were played on either side of Lucas, who was a bit deeper. The 3 in the midfield were situated in a 1-2, with Can and Milner acting as shuttlers. The 4-3-2-1 asked a lot out of Coutinho, Lallana, Milner and Can regardless of whether Liverpool were pressing high up the pitch or defending in a mid-block, which they did for a good portion of the match. When defending in the mid-block, Liverpool’s pressing and shape started from the top. Origi would close down the centre backs quickly and would approach them by cutting off the passing lane to the other centre back. If Vertonghen was on the ball, it was a trigger for the entire Liverpool team. Origi would close down Vertonghen, taking away the pass to Alderweireld, and forcing the play into Rose, with Liverpool shifting quickly to close down that area of the pitch. Below is an example.

The narrow shape of Liverpool meant that Milner and Can, in particular, were forced to do a huge amount of work. As Tottenham moved up the pitch and played out to the full backs, Milner and Can had to slide over to put pressure on. AS mentioned, this was a bigger ask for Can as Kyle Walker got much involved in Tottenham’s forward play than Danny Rose did so Can was forced to cover Coutinho numerous times when Kyle Walker found himself free down the right side of Tottenham’s attack. Because of the  initial narrow shape though, the movement of Can and Milner allowed passing lanes to open up from the likes of Lucas, Sakho, and Skrtel into Coutinho, Lallana, and Origi. This was particularly evident on the left side from Sakho to Coutinho, although the Brazilian struggled to really pick out Origi, whose movement was not great when Lallana or Coutinho were able to find space and dribble at the Tottenham back line.

Dembele and Eriksen

During the opening 25 minutes or so, when Liverpool were putting Tottenham under intense pressure, Mousa Dembele, who was more than likely only brought into the side because of the suspension of Eric Dier, was Spurs best player. The Belgian was able to use his strength and slaloming touch to get by and through the Liverpool pressure before finding a teammate. At times, he attracted two or three Liverpool players which allowed his teammates to find more space. In this respect, he was excellent, as was his defensive contribution. When Liverpool looked to break through Lallana or Coutinho, it was often Dembele who put in a tackle that won Tottenham the ball back. There were questions about whether Dembele and Alli would be able to cope with free moving players like Coutinho and Lallana, given that both Spurs players would certainly benefit from a true defensive midfielder alongside them in a 4-2-3-1, but Dembele’s defensive work was outstanding.

While Dembele was good going forward, Eriksen was the focal point of Tottenham’s best attacks, starting late on in the first half and carrying on into the second half. As Liverpool began to defend in a mid block, the spaces for Eriksen on either side of Lucas began to open up. Lucas is not a particularly mobile defensive midfielder and is often clumsy in his challenges in his defensive third. Up against a playmaker that is capable of finding space, Lucas struggles with excellent examples coming against Manchester United with Herrera, Arsenal with Özil, and Everton with Barkley. Like Coutinho and Lallana, Eriksen was able to get on the ball in the half-spaces and when got behind Lucas.

No Goal Scorers, Changes

The match end 0-0 and there were few good chances for either side. Mignolet was forced into a few good saves, but Lloris was rarely tested by Liverpool. Both sides lacked a goal scorer, or at least one on form. With Benteke, Ings, and Sturridge all out, Klopp was forced to play Origi as Liverpool’s front man and the Belgian did okay in terms of holding the ball up (although this was inconsistent) and supporting Liverpool’s build up, but overall he never looked like scoring a goal. The same can be said about Kane. The English striker has struggled a bit this year, but got away from Martin Skrtel a few times when he peeled off into the left channel. He shot his best chance at Mignolet and without Son or another player that would run beyond Kane as against Manchester City, the Englishman struggled.

Neither manager had a bench with players that could really change the game. Klopp brought on Joe Allen late on in the match and Jordon Ibe even later. Ibe, it can be argued, could have been a player that a significant impact on the match had he been brought on earlier. Liverpool were very narrow going forward for the majority of the match and Ibe could have given them a wide outlet and his movement and pace could have been useful to Coutinho and Lallana.

Pochettino was forced into a change early on replacing the injured Chadli with N’Jie, but the Argentine’s next change did not come until the 87th minute when Andros Townsend was brought on for Erik Lamela.

Conclusion

Liverpool supporters and Klopp will be encouraged by the opening 20-25 minutes of the match when Liverpool pressed Spurs incredibly well and were energetic going forward. Having only trained with the squad for a few days, it was a glimpse of things to come for Liverpool under Klopp. It will be interesting to see what the German does once the likes of Benteke, Sturridge, Firmino, and Henderson are fit again.

Pochettino will be pleased with the performance of Dembele, Eriksen, and Alli, in particular. The midfield three did their parts defensively and going forward. Pochettino will have to get the best out of Kane even when there aren’t players that can run off of him should the Spurs boss continue to use him.