Sunday afternoon signals yet another clash between the two most successful clubs in English football, and while Liverpool and Manchester United aren’t playing for the Premier League trophy, their match at Anfield will be massive in the race for top 4. The Manchester club have copped some criticism for their performances this season, but head into this clash buoyed by their brilliant performance against Spurs last weekend. Liverpool, meanwhile, have been unbeaten in the league since they were defeated 3-0 by the Red Devils at Old Trafford over three months ago, and Brendan Rodgers’ innovative 3-4-3 system has been working wonders. However, their scrapping of the new system in favour of a successful diamond formation during the second half of the Monday night game against Swansea has prompted the question: Which formation will Rodgers go for in arguably Liverpool’s biggest match of the season so far?

At the start of the season, Liverpool struggled mightily in the absence of Suarez and Sturridge (the latter through injury), finding it hard to create chances, and playing a slow style of football that we hadn’t come to expect from the Reds. However, the switch to 3-4-3 brought about two very important changes: Firstly, the unleashing of Sterling, Coutinho and Lallana, and secondly, an increase in tempo, energy and pressing. Although the new formation’s debut finished with Liverpool losing to 3-0 to Manchester United, the improvement in performance and chance creation was there to see. Results slowly started picking up, and Liverpool haven’t looked back since. However, the game against Swansea showed there are still some flaws in the system. Lallana, Coutinho and Sterling all played well in attack (Sturridge also had his best match since returning from injury), but defensively, Liverpool were extremely suspect.

This clip came during the first half, when Liverpool were playing in the 3-4-3, in the lead up to Swansea’s best chance. As Neil Taylor chips the ball down the left-wing, you can just see how disorganised the pressing is from Liverpool. Why is Coutinho coming across to hassle Taylor, when Sterling already has him covered? By departing his central position, Coutinho has gifted the entire middle of the park to the three Swansea midfielders circled. When you are playing a team like Swansea City, who play arguably the best passing football in the premier league, why on earth would you gift them that type of space?

This is moments later, and the ball is now with Ki. This now is where the system has broken down, and players start abandoning each other. Sterling, as an attack minded player, doesn’t have the diligence to track back, and has lost Neil Taylor, who now has a free run down the left. Emre Can (circled) therefore has to make a decision himself: Does he depart his position and track Taylor down the left, or does he stay? He eventually decides to go, but Routledge now has the space down the middle to exploit his decision. It is Jordan Henderson’s job to track Routledge, but because the system has broken down, so too has the communication, meaning that no one tells Henderson about men in behind (such as Sigurdsson, who is between the lines). It’s him and Allen whom I feel sympathy because they’ve had to make spur-0f-the-moment decisions on a count of the poor decision-making by the attacking players, something made even more challenging by the fact that neither is an out-and-out defensive midfielder. Allen and Henderson were however too static at times, increasing space between the midfield and defence, but that was all to change after the break.

Midway through the second 45, Rodgers made a change, bringing on Steven Gerrard for Alberto Moreno. It was a substitution the signalled the change to a diamond midfield, but not in a formation that we have been used to seeing. The back three of Sakho, Skrtel, and Can stayed the same, while Gerrard’s introduction saw him play at the base of midfield, with Henderson playing right centre midfield and Allen left centre midfield. Coutinho played in a number 10 behind striker Daniel Sturridge, but the positions of Lallana and Sterling changed. Instead of playing as convention wing backs , Rodgers pushed them further up the pitch, turning them into inside forwards. While they retained their width going forward, defensively their shape changed entirely.

Gerrard didn’t do anything magnificent with the ball, but off it, his positioning was superb. Whether this was a call made by the skipper himself, or more likely the manager, he does deserve credit for going about his business in an effective way. In this picture above, we can see the Liverpool diamond in the way we described, pressuring the Swansea defender. We talked about the struggles that Henderson and Allen had with their positioning in the first half, but Gerrard’s spot at the base has allowed Henderson and Allen to harry the defenders without having to worry about what was behind them. They were let off the leash, and their energy was ultimately too much for the Swansea players to handle.

Moments later, the ball is transferred to the right-wing with Nathan Dyer. Again we can see the diamond shape, and the fluidity of the system. This time Lallana forms the left side of the diamond, Allen shifts over to form the right side, while Gerrard pivots his position to form the base. The diamond is usually a shape we see in the middle of the park, but the way they kept the shape from side to side made them so much more compact. There isn’t a single option on for Dyer because all his teammates are covered by Liverpool players. He ends up trying to drive down the line, but loses it to Lallana. Credit must go to Coutinho as well, because his positional discipline and willingness to work at the tip of the diamond (in both instances), allows Sturridge and Sterling to prepare themselves for the quick transition and counter attack. Swansea slowly started giving the ball away more and more due to the pressure, and while the goal itself isn’t a testament to the system, the way they wrestled control from the hosts definitely is.

Is the diamond the tactic the one to use against Manchester United?

For me, it has to be. United’s defenders aren’t exactly Franz Beckenbauer, and with a little bit of pressure, can be very sloppy in their distribution. The system also allows Henderson and Allen to press high, a factor they will look to expose against the less dynamic duo of Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera. United have a crafty midfield, with the likes of Carrick, Herrera, Juan Mata, and even Daley Blind, who played a very clever match against Tottenham last Sunday, but if Allen and Henderson can stem their influence on the match the same way they eventually stemmed the likes of Shelvey and Britton, it will stop balls from being pumped into the feet of Wayne Rooney and Marouane Fellaini, both of whom played excellently last Sunday.

Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football that he couldn’t see Brendan Rodgers changing the line up from Monday night, but I disagree. With Gerrard’s introduction proving to be the key for Liverpool’s eventual victory, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Rodgers go with the line up that ended the Swansea match. Lucas Leiva’s return from injury also puts him in contention for a starting berth, but whoever he plays, I would expect Rodgers to go for the 3-4-3 diamond.





