Liverpool notch sixth straight win as Jurgen Klopp’s adjustments look like they could save the Reds season
Liverpool #Liverpool
To kick off April, Liverpool were on a run where they lost to Bournemouth, Real Madrid, and Manchester City. Champions League qualification felt like a pipe dream and the team was searching for balance. Fast forward to Saturday, and not only is the team undefeated in their last eight matches, with six wins on the bounce after a 1-0 victory at home over Brentford hut they’re on the fringe of the top four race. Ahead of Manchester United’s Sunday match against West Ham Liverpool trail them by one point, but with two more games played. But if the Red Devil’s slip, all of a sudden Liverpool are lurking to take advantage.
The team has still been shaky away from home but Jurgen Klopp has compensated for their defensive frailties by getting as many of his attackers on the pitch as possible. He’s taken after Pep Guardiola’s innovations at Manchester City, utilizing right back Trent Alexander-Arnold as an inverted fullback while also sliding Cody Gakpo into midfield now that Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz are healthy. Versatility has been the name of the game for Klopp while in charge of Liverpool, but what he has done to get the team back into the race for top four is truly next level tinkering.
In effect Klopp is shoehorning an attacker into midfield alongside a defensive midifielder in Fabinho, putting one of a number of attack minded midfielders next to them and supplementing them with a fullback. The team is left extremely open, but, as they showed on Saturday with strong set play defense, the Reds can withstand all the free kicks they concede slowing down the counterattacks that are created from paying this style. Despite allowing Brentford to take 20 free kicks and three corners, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were able to control aerial traffic to hold Brentford to five shots.
It’s a defensive tightrope that Liverpool are walking but when they were trying to go at teams and leaving themselves open at the back during their winless run, it’s better to lean into that and get their attackers on the pitch. The team has struggled with pressing cues this season so making the changes has allowed more freedom to the players.
Gakpo especially has been key since moving into central midfield. Able to dribble, shoot, and create for his teammates, Gakpo has scored two goals and assisted two more during this run while finding his feet in the Premier League after joining from PSV in January.
By winning, Liverpool have also put pressure on Manchester United. Facing West Ham United on Sunday, the Red Devils are only one point ahead of Liverpool but they do have two games in hand. Losing and it could lead to a scenario down the stretch where United have to be perfect to stave off Liverpool from cracking the top four. It’s something that was unthinkable just a month ago, but it shows that with time, anything can change in the Premier League.
Flexibility is key and Liverpool’s recruitment has allowed Klopp to keep things fresh with new roles. It’s not in their hands on if that will be enough to end up in a Champions League place but all Liverpool can do is put themselves in the best place to succeed. After a disappointing season, they’ve starting doing that and now they need to keep winning and see how the dust ends up settling in the Premier League.