Analysis: Liverpool

Jürgen Klopp again organised Liverpool into a 4-3-3 formation, in which Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum played in front of Fabinho in midfield. They dominated possession during the opening 30 minutes and played through Salzburg with relative ease, largely via their full-backs and wide attackers Mo Salah and Sadio Mané, who made consistent movements inside.

The hosts swept possession across the pitch with short, sharp diagonal passes; each triggered a further forward run on the outside ahead of the ball, to encourage the next, and it was this that created a fabulous second goal created by Trent Alexander-Arnold for Andy Robertson. They also sought rotations in wide areas to create overloads against Salzburg’s wide midfielders; lone forward Roberto Firmino would withdraw into midfield to create a further dilemma for the visitors, particularly when possession travelled wide.

Wijnaldum often adopted a position at left-back to encourage Andy Robertson to overlap him and create the desired two-on-one. The defending right-back’s reluctance to press him, owing to the threat posed by Mané, meant Robertson having time and space – and with quick combinations Salzburg’s defensive line were consistently beaten. If possession was wide with a winger or full-back, Firmino checked away from that defensive line towards the ball, which was played to him to while a teammate made a run beyond the defensive line before receiving from the Brazilian.

The visitors later adopted a four-diamond-two, so Liverpool also had to adjust. Their switches of play became lengthier, in an attempt to expose the visitors’ narrow diamond; this initially led to two-on-ones out wide, but Salzburg’s tireless running gradually negated those. Klopp’s team also lacked movement in midfield, encouraging that diamond to remain narrow, until James Milner’s introduction as a substitute; the veteran’s mobility drew a defender and freed up Alexander-Arnold beyond midfield. When Divock Origi also came on, Liverpool switched into a 4-2-4, as Klopp often does if they are not winning, with Origi and Mané playing wide of Salah and Firmino. This gave them a further point of attack, encouraging his full-backs to advance and leading to goalscoring chances close to goal.