LFC 20/21 – Zonal Marking I
The Reds were dominant in their fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal but Leeds United and Aston Villa proved to be challenging opponents which showcased a number of defensive problems for Liverpool. 3W, 0D, 1L is the record for the Reds so far.
Defence
Something has gone wrong at the back for Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp’s high line was exposed like never before against Villa. Fabinho has done well to step in for an injured Joe Gomez, but the Reds have conceded 11 goals in their opening four fixtures and top of the league Everton are up next.
Midfield
Thiago Alcantara put in a passing masterclass against Chelsea on his debut for the Reds, but Liverpool’s midfield has looked a little uneasy without the presence of Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum has offered little for Liverpool going forward.
Attack
Roberto Firmino has struggled to make an impact so far this season, but Sadio Mané and Mo Salah have once again been dominant in the Premier League with eight goals in four matches. In a game where Liverpool lost by a margin of five goals, Salah still managed to put two past Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Zone of the month – Defence
Joe Gomez has been well out of form throughout the start of the 2020-2021 campaign and his errors cost Liverpool against Leeds United and Aston Villa. In both games, the England International often ran too far back to be able to make a challenge which presented his opponent with a good chance on goal.
Liverpool’s full backs (Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold) have two assists between one another, and Robertson has been one of the standout men for Jurgen Klopp in this area of the filed. The Scotsman drew the game level against Arsenal, and he was one of the few individuals who put in a good performance during the first 45 minutes against Aston Villa.
The additions of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich and Diego Jota from Wolves will no doubt mix things up for Liverpool as other managers begin to learn about what works (and what does not work) against Klopp’s squad.
However, the departure of Dejan Lovren to St. Petersburg has left a gap in the defence which was not addressed in the summer transfer window and as a result, Fabinho has been called upon to cover at centre back whilst Joe Gomez and Joel Matip remained out of action.
Thankfully, Fabinho has been superb and he was pivotal in Liverpool’s attempts to shut down the attacking presence of Timo Werner against Chelsea. Likewise, Alisson Becker had a great game at Stamford Bridge – the Brazilian stopped Jorginho’s penalty and made another super save in the second half.
It would be fair to say that Adrian has lost faith in most Liverpool supporters this year. His errors in March cost Liverpool qualification to the Champions League semi-finals and he was poor in goal when Liverpool crashed out of the FA cup against Chelsea.
It did him no favours then, that his poor pass back to Joe Gomez put Liverpool 1-0 down against Villa and his performance set the tone for what would be a disastrous evening for the Reds.
Alisson will spend the next 4-6 weeks on the side-lines after he suffered from a shoulder injury in training, and the shouts for Liverpool to bring in a new second choice keeper came too late after the transfer window closed on October 5.
With that in mind, supporters will have to get behind Adrian over the coming month with Liverpool facing Ajax in the Champions League and Manchester City away from home in the Premier League on November 7.