Liverpool were made to work incredibly hard for three points against Sheffield United this evening.
The Reds were under a little pressure to pick up a result having seen Arsenal and Manchester City both win on Wednesday evening.
However, with Sheffield United sitting rock bottom of the Premier League, few had predicted too much trouble for Liverpool at Anfield.
In the end though, the Blades made life incredibly uncomfortable. Disciplined defensively and threatening in attack, they looked like they may escaped Merseyside with a point after Conor Bradley turned the ball into his own net for an equaliser.
But Alexis Mac Allister had other ideas, belting home a wonderful go-ahead goal before Cody Gakpo applied the finishing touches. After the game though, Jurgen Klopp also claimed that a little formation tweak might have helped his team, too.
Jurgen Klopp admits to formation change
Something clearly needed to be done differently after Bradley’s unfortunate equaliser. Liverpool were simply too lethargic and not penetrative enough in possession.
So, Klopp took action. Surprisingly, the manager took Mohamed Salah off as his team searched for a winnner.
Salah didn’t look happy to be coming off, but as Jamie Carragher pointed out post-game, Klopp got it absolutely spot on with his substitutions.
And speaking to TNT Sports himself, the Reds boss claimed that Andy Robertson’s introduction in particular helped Liverpool to regain a footing in the game.
“When Robbo came on we can change the system to a 442 which helped as well,” Jurgen explained. “Both wings then a bit more open and all of these kind of things.
“So, that was the game changer, but Macca has to mis-hit the ball and it goes in the top corner, you need those as well!”
Klopp tries something new
We’re not altogether sure exactly who was playing where for Liverpool in this system. It seems likely that it was intended to be Luis Diaz wide left, with two strikers – Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez – and Harvey Elliott on the right.
That doesn’t sound to have all that much width, with the two wide men wanting to cut inside. However, that does open up the space for the full-backs, which Robertson used to good effect.
This is something to keep an eye out for in the title run-in, as Liverpool go on the search for goals late in games.
It certainly paid off tonight, so we see no reason not to use it again.