Sporting Life
Jurgen Klopp v Erik ten Hag

Alex Keble's Premier League match-ups: Tricky weekend for Manchester clubs?

By Alex Keble
Football
Sun December 17, 2023 · 2y ago
  • Alex Keble (@alexkeble) is a football journalist who specialises in tactical understanding, analysis and predictions of all aspects of the game.

Gakpo & Endo to pincer woeful midfield

Liverpool’s 7-0 victory in this fixture last season has Manchester United supporters fearing the worst, especially given that the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend was worryingly similar to the tactical pattern of Liverpool’s big win back in March.

The difference in confidence alone should see Liverpool through. They are furious, fast, and direct in all the ways that can hurt this ambling and passive Man Utd team, and having won all eight of their league matches at Anfield this season there is every chance they will blow United away for simple and non-tactical reasons.

But if that isn’t enough, the tactical clash should still favour the hosts. In the 7-0, Jurgen Klopp deployed Cody Gakpo as a false nine, and indeed he dropped so far that, with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez lurking either side, Liverpool virtually played in a diamond 4-4-2, with four central midfielders completely overwhelming Man Utd’s inferior three of Casemiro, Fred, and Wout Weghorst.

United’s midfield will be completely different on Sunday – but not any better. Against Bournemouth, Sofian Amrabat, Bruno Fernandes, and Scott McTominay pressed wildly and, bizarrely, kept swapping positions, creating a confused midfield that contained huge gaps between the three players.

Manchester United's Sofyan Amrabat has struggled this season

These spaces allowed Bournemouth to stream through to score their second, which followed a first that resulted from their high press coming off; Lewis Cook stole the ball ahead of McTominay and raced past a flat-footed Amrabat. It almost goes without saying that Liverpool’s high press can be similarly effective.

Klopp is likely to field Gakpo again, creating that numerical overload, while at the base Wataru Endo will thread one-touch forward passes through the lines, catching the manically-onrushing Amrabat or McTominay (Fernandes is suspended) and splitting Man Utd open.

With advantages all over the pitch, but especially at the top and bottom of midfield, Liverpool might even come close to matching the 7-0 score line.

Frank’s long balls v Cash & Moreno width

This is the kind of fixture that Unai Emery does not like.

Aston Villa have held more than 60% possession on four occasions this season and only won two of them, drawing 2-2 with Bournemouth and losing 2-0 to Nottingham Forest. This latter game in particular is a template for Brentford, who similarly rely on a low block, long-ball counters, and physicality.

Villa’s high line will be tested by Brentford, who don’t have the pace to go clean through on goal but who, via Yoane Wissa and Neal Maupay, can latch onto long balls over the top and move Brentford into dangerous areas, from which position they could bully Aston Villa at set-pieces.

More importantly, Villa won’t have the space they crave to play their usual game. Emery likes teams to press onto his players, which creates room for line-breaking passes into John McGinn as he dips inside to make a box midfield, but with Brentford packing their own half, Villa will often be reduced to slow passing around the back.

Aston Villa have been playing the ball very centrally this season

Emery will have a plan for how to get around the bodies or through them, perhaps bringing Matty Cash back into the team to help Leon Bailey get crosses into the box. On the other side, Alex Moreno, in for the suspended Lucas Digne, can also overlap in the hope of stretching that Brentford defence, in turn creating space centrally for Ollie Watkins and the midfield runners. In that regard, this is a game for Jacob Ramsey, who loves to burst into the box from deep.

What’s more, Villa’s 1-0 wins against Man City and Arsenal should give the visitors the self-esteem to play away games as if at Villa Park. If confident, Emery’s side can play at the require tempo to take advantage of Brentford’s own hesitancy following a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United last time out.

Slow City attack v Palace’s quick counters

A 2-1 win at Luton Town does not mean Man City are through their mini-crisis and they will not be looking forward to playing their mini-bogey team Crystal Palace on Saturday. Last season Palace only lost 1-0 at Selhurst Park thanks to a late penalty, while the season before they were 2-0 winners at the Etihad and drew 0-0 at home.

Their tactical plan, for those games and for this one, is hardly a secret. Roy Hodgson likes to play in a low block 4-4-2 that aims to stifle Man City and force them into slow sideways possession, before springing forward on the counter-attack with two or three fast dribblers. It has worked before and it can work again.

Man City lack creativity without Kevin de Bruyne and as long as Palace double up on Jeremy Doku they have little to fear assuming their defensive shell is on form. If they can keep the score at 0-0 for the first half, then Pep Guardiola’s side could again look a little shaky and low energy, creating an opening for Michael Olise to wriggle through.

Even without Olise, Palace were leading Liverpool last weekend up until Jordan Ayew’s red card. That game turned on Jurgen Klopp’s attacking substitutions, but this season Guardiola has very few forward options on the bench.

City are clear favourites on home soil, but if there is anyone in the division likely to steer them towards low-tempo football it is Hodgson’s Palace.

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