Analysis: Liverpool

Liverpool set up in a 4-2-3-1 in possession, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho as the deeper-lying central midfielders. Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Xherdan Shaqiri operated as an attacking three behind lone striker Mo Salah.

The hosts had a huge amount of possession (70 per cent) and had to try to break down an organised defensive Fulham block. They tried to move individuals out of the Fulham block in order to create space through which they could penetrate; they did this by dropping Shaqiri, Mane and Firmino deep to try and drag individuals with them, but the space was still very limited. Liverpool also tried to utilise their full-backs high and wide in order to allow Mane and Shaqiri to play inside more often. When the full-backs pushed high, either Wijnaldum or Fabinho would take on a false full-back position to provide the balance and cover.

Sometimes, Liverpool would combine the two above strategies and drop their attacking midfielders deep as they played out wide to the full-backs; the attacking midfielder who had dropped would then make a run into the space behind the Fulham full-back on that side. This was difficult while the score remained 0-0, as the visitors were still compact and comfortable allowing space only behind their wide midfielders rather than the full-backs. At 1-0, when Fulham had to come out more, the spaces became slightly greater. That said, both Liverpool goals came as a result of lapses in concentration rather than any particularly brilliant build-up, although goalkeeper Alisson showed good alertness in launching the move from which Salah opened the scoring 14 seconds after Aleksandar Mitrovic had a header disallowed in front of the Kop.

Out of possession, Liverpool didn’t have a huge amount of work to do. When Fulham looked to play out from the back, Salah and Firmino would stay central and occupy central midfielders Calum Chambers and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, while Mane and Shaqiri would be on a slightly deeper and wider line. When Fulham played into their centre-backs, one of Mane or Shaqiri would go and press.

In transition, Liverpool would look to counter-press immediately. If this was broken, or if they had chosen not to press, they dropped into a 4-4-2 defensive shape. Mane and Shaqiri would tuck in alongside Fabinho and Wijnaldum to make the midfield line of four, while Firmino would join Salah on the top line. Liverpool’s central-defensive partnership of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk had to deal with direct play to Mitrovic as Fulham’s primary attacking strategy, and then look to collect the second ball should the Fulham forward win it. This job also fell to central midfielders Wijnaldum and Fabinho, as Liverpool saw out the game relatively comfortably.