Tactical Analysis of the PL game between Liverpool and Chelsea.

Liverpool's organized press, Chelsea's defensive setup and how the red card affected the game. #CHELIV

Klopp's men played on the front foot from the very first minute. Liverpool were looking to prevent Chelsea from progressing the ball. Below you can see the way both teams set up when Chelsea are in position.
- All players are being marked tightly except the full backs

The ball was naturally forced to the fullbacks most of the time. In this case, Wijnaldum/Keita would press the Chelsea fullback and cover passing lanes to Kante/Kovacic.

Henderson's role as the free man was to cover exposed areas. If Wijnaldum or Keita left their man Henderson would leave his position to take care of the situation. If Mount or Havertz move between the lines Henderson takes care of them.

Real game example:
Frame 1 - Wijnaldum pressing Reece James
Frame 2 - RJ passed it to Mount who could easily play it to Kante but Henderson is there.

This simple wall pass could beat Wijnaldum's press.

Real game example:
Mount drops deeper and Henderson latches onto him. If Robertson followed Mount, Havertz could make a run behind him but there was no need.

We can't say Liverpool played this perfectly. There was a flaw to their setup.

When Kovacic moved deep to form a pivot, Keita was forced to follow him. This opened up space on the left half space for Chelsea. Too much space for Henderson to take care of by himself.

Sadly, Chelsea barely attempted to make use of this space. They usually preferred to play a long pass directly to Werner. Here's one of few moments where they did use this space.

Havertz drops deep and Henderson is too slow to follow him.

I found a combination that could've worked throughout the game but only happened once and wasnt planned.

Remember how Henderson follows Kante when Wijnaldum presses RJ? Here he was ripped apart between following Kante or Havertz. Kante made a run in the halfspace

Chelsea's defensive shape was very compact. The flat midfield 3 barely left their positions and focused solely on blocking passes inbetween the lines where Salah, Firmino, Mane were lurking. They did a good job covering passing lanes and not being dragged out of position.

Liverpool not being able to recieve the ball between the lines also meant the CBs wouldnt get dragged out of position. Not just the CBs, Reece James and Alonso never left their positions. Instead, Werner and Mount followed the Liverpool fullbacks all the way back

Chelsea started the second half with 10 men and Havertz was the man to come off. Havertz is known for being lazy defensively. When alone up top he barely pressed and Lampard subbed him off wanting to keep that compact shape until the last minute.

But Mount and Werner played as strikers instead of wingers, forming a 4-3-2 shape. Playing without wingers forced Reece James and Alonso wide to defend vs Trent and Robertson.

Finally, the goal came when Alonso was forced wide, Firmino found space between Alonso and Zouma, Mount failed to block the pass to Firmino and they scored.

Liverpool struggled a lot and despite the results, every game is pointing to an eventual fall. End of thread.

Take a look at my Brighton - Chelsea analysis. Much more interesting than the Liverpool game, which put me to sleep analysing it. https://twitter.com/DictatorJorgi/status/1305873092506513409?s=20