Analysis: Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp made six changes from his side’s previous Premier League outing at Huddersfield, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alberto Moreno replacing Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson in the full-back positions. The head coach also converted his team into to a 4-2-3-1, as Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum formed a double pivot. Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane also returned to the starting line-up, joining Adam Lallana in an attacking midfield trio behind Mo Salah.

The hosts predictably dominated the opening proceedings, with Fabinho and Wijnaldum forming a central box as the double pivot, allowing for a consistent build from goalkeeper Alisson. Along with centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk, the central box ensured constant progression into midfield, as Cardiff’s two pressing centre forwards could do little in a four-on-two overload.

Quick switches across the pitch, coupled with punched passes forwards into the full-backs, ensured Liverpool could quickly play around Cardiff’s narrow defensive structure. This brought immediate success, as the visitors failed to clear a cross from Alexander-Arnold; despite them blocking two subsequent attempts on goal, Mo Salah pounced to put Liverpool ahead inside 10 minutes.

It was clear that Salah was playing as the central number 9, with Firmino dropping short as the number 10 between the Cardiff midfield and defensive units. Should Firmino move in front of the visitors’ midfield to create a trio with Fabinho and Wijnaldum, Mane and Lallana would step inside to form a narrow front three. This afforded Alexander-Arnold much more space to move forward and provide attacking crosses from right-back. Despite setting up in a 4-2-3-1 featuring various rotations and subtle movements, the Reds often ended up in an asymmetrical 4-3-3, with Moreno on the left more reserved than Alexander-Arnold.

They displayed great fluidity with their movements in the first half, too. Salah would drop away from the number 9 role and move into a central midfield position, sometimes in tandem with Firmino. Lallana would then take up the centre forward position, while Alexander-Arnold would provide the width. Such rotations required well-timed movement – the choreography of the run should match the angle of the ball to maintain the forward passing options – but Liverpool were impressive in this regard.

At the start of the second half, however, they failed to progress the ball from back to front quite as quickly as they had in the first. The now deeper positioning of Alexander-Arnold when building from goalkeeper Alisson disrupted the rhythm, as Cardiff stepped higher in their mid-block. The visitors simply blocked off any forward passes, and the lack of width from the back line made switches around a narrow structure much more difficult.

The Reds looked far less dangerous in possession, but the second goal still arrived courtesy of a Mane piledriver from the left. Minutes later, James Milner replaced Firmino and Liverpool converted into a more structured 4-3-3. Both full-backs now stepped higher, which in turn restored their control of the ball against a team who recovered into a low block. A low finish from substitute Xherdan Shaqiri and a deft chip from Mane confirmed the three points in the latter stages of the contest, as Liverpool maintained their superb start to the season.

Due to their dominance of the ball, Liverpool’s defensive duties were fairly limited throughout. Even during moments of transition where Cardiff’s long balls managed to avoid the hosts’ aggressive counter-pressing, they remained comfortable. The high starting position of goalkeeper Alisson, combined with the aerial power of the central defenders, ensured the visitors failed to build from their direct passages of play.

When Cardiff did have a spell of consistent pressure, their ability to draw fouls created opportunities for long free-kicks into the Liverpool box – and the hosts’ back line was forced into battling to clear their lines for the first time in the game. But Liverpool’s second-half shape when playing out from the back did eventually halt the progress their opponents made from dribbles forward, especially during moments of transition. As Moreno and Alexander-Arnold remained deeper during the build from Alisson, wide spaces weren’t available through which Cardiff could counter.

Conceding a relatively cheap goal, which started from a short throw-in before a cross was delivered into the penalty area, will have disappointed the Liverpool defence. They naturally became more cautious in possession after surrendering their clean sheet; only one of the full-backs would move higher, so if the move broke down, they could block the access into their opponents’ strikers and would have enough players back to defend any subsequent long ball forward.