Arsenal vs Liverpool: 4 key tactical requirements vs Klopp’s side

2. Force Liverpool to Go Wide

Those who remember the 3-1 defeat at Anfield in 2019 will also be reminded of Unai Emery’s tactical approach on the day. He had his four central midfielders tucked inside to congest that area and the hand the freedom of Merseyside to Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to dominate the wide spaces.

It was very much a ‘cross as much as you want, it won’t work’ type of approach. With such exceptional delivery from either full-back area it was a risk. He was fond of those.

Forcing teams to go wide is nothing new. It is easier to have men in the box to defend those areas. What Emery did wrong was allowing the crosses to come in early, which caused havoc on the Arsenal defence all afternoon.

Yet again Arsenal need to remain compact centrally and force the issue wide. The difference, however, is where. Liverpool flung in heaps of crosses in the first leg to no avail, partly because the trio of Benjamin White, Gabriel and Rob Holding are resolute from such deliveries, and partly due to the majority of them being hopeful efforts from near the byline.

Kieran Tierney and Calum Chambers showed their man wide and down the line expertly, and the same approach, albeit with less desperation, is another way to nullify the Reds’ clever interchangeable threat.

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