Jurgen Klopp trialled a new formation for Liverpool vs Sparta Prague and very few people noticed
There was a feeling in Prague last night that Liverpool were not going to have it their own way against the home side.
Sparta Prague hadn’t lost a game of football in 90 minutes at home in the epet Arena all season. They looked like a threat on paper. But not much can faze this Liverpool team at the moment. In the end, the Reds breezed past yet another challenge with ease.
Jurgen Klopp’s men put five past a Sparta Prague team, who in all fairness created plenty of chances of their own. But Caoimhin Kelleher made some superb saves to make this game a lot more comfortable for Liverpool than it might have been.
At the other end, Klopp’s men were ruthless in front of goal. Darwin Nunez ended the night with two equally sublime finishes. Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz all joined in on the act.
Klopp’s new formation experiment
Liverpool played some really good football on the night. They particularly controlled the midfield where Harvey Elliott and Alexis Mac Allister both thrived. The two of them were both involved in two goals each, and created the joint most chances with four in the game.
They were also both part of a new diamond shape midfield. Mac Allister often dropped deeper in this game to slot in alongside Wataru Endo into a double pivot. Meanwhile, Harvey Elliott was pushed forward to occupy a number ten position.
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The above picture best demonstrates this shape with Endo and Mac Allister playing parallel and Elliott pushing further forward. Liverpool maintained this formation throughout the match.
When Dominik Szoboszlai came on, he initially occupied the number ten role, while Elliott was pushed to the right-wing. However, as the Hungarian explained after the game, 15 minutes after coming on he was asked to drop back into more of a holding midfield role when Bobby Clark was introduced. Klopp even called him over and had a little discussion on the touchline with Szoboszlai as the substitution was about to take place.
“We spoke about because of that [Mac Allister substitution] I have to watch the space next to Endo more in the number six role because one of the younger players [Bobby Clark] came on and he was going to be the more advanced [midfielder] so he just told me to pay attention and be more defensive,” Szoboszlai told M4 Sport (translated by Rousing the Kop) about what Klopp told him during that touchline conversation.
That instruction confirms Liverpool were very much experimenting with the diamond formation in this game. It does also make you wonder, perhaps Jurgen Klopp has a similar plan for Manchester City on Sunday? And could the diamond midfield be how Liverpool approach the rest of the season? Based on last night’s game you can’t really argue against it.
