How Liverpool failed to sustain attacking possession against Brighton
· Yahoo Sports
In Liverpool's 4-0 win over Galatasarary, Arne Slot trialled a new system.
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He opted for the same approach against Brighton to less success, with width coming from the full-backs rather than wingers.
Slot again started with two strikers with two narrow attacking midfielders behind them in Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz.
In possession, Hugo Ekitike's early injury and Mohamed Salah's absence meant Liverpool lacked players to hold the ball up when they went long - something that worked well to catch Galatasaray in an unsettled shape.
Slot would surely have wanted Liverpool to find the attackers quickly with attacking midfielders nearby to pick up knock-downs. Unable to make the ball stick, however, Liverpool failed to sustain attacking possession.
The roles of Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez as Liverpool's only wide players were demanding and with a short turnaround between games, they struggled to get up and down the flank when the game became end to end.
Out of possession, Liverpool looked to press in a 4-3-1-2 shape. Between Brighton's technical quality, the distances the players had to jump to press and fatigue, Liverpool appeared stretched.
Two strikers pressed Brighton's centre-backs with one of the midfielders marking their defensive midfielder. This meant the left and right central midfielders were tasked with getting out to Brighton's full-backs to press. Ryan Gravenberch was left stranded in the centre of midfield, often positioned fairly deep.
As Brighton progressed up the pitch, this narrow 4-3-1-2 shape left space down the flanks and the hosts, through switches of play, exploited those. Liverpool's midfield failed to shift over quickly enough and Brighton were able to find spare men to play crosses in, under little pressure.
After the game, Slot arrived at the same diagnosis: "Both goals we conceded were crosses from the side. The lead-up to the first goal and the first cross was something we could have prevented."