‘Massive’ Arsenal player and his shining teammate could break Jurgen Klopp’s new Liverpool formation

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Liverpool have a new formation but Arsenal might be able to break it. There are two players at the Gunners who will cause trouble.

Liverpool’s attention turns to Arsenal and the Premier League after their 2-0 win over Rangers this week. The Reds controlled the game to near-perfection and looked far more like themselves after a period of struggling form.

A massive reason for that was the change in formation. Jurgen Klopp went with a 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 system and it worked incredibly well.

The two-man midfield didn’t need to push on with four forwards the full-backs looking to do that work. Instead, they controlled the middle of the pitch, stopped counter-attacks and covered the wide areas in transition. It was the right change to make and Liverpool worked it well.

Next up, however, are the Premier League leaders and we worry this system won’t work against them. It might mean an instant return to the 4-3-3.

New Liverpool formation vs Arsenal

Liverpool’s two-man midfield worked particularly well because Rangers completely lacked the players to exploit it. Alfredo Morelos offered little, unable to play between the lines or pull defenders about.

Arsenal, though, did have those players. Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus are two talents who deliberately look to play in that space between the opposition defence and midfield.

That’s a space you naturally leave with a two-man midfield. You can’t afford to sit your players too deep in order to close that gap or there’s no pressure on the opposition midfielders. Push too far forwards and that gap grows, allowing for easy passing options.

Liverpool typically guard against that by using a holding midfielder – Fabinho. With him sitting and plugging that gap, the other midfielders can push forward and press. Now, teams have countered wonderfully against the Reds this season when they try this.

Arsenal, though, will look less for counter-attacks and more for possession. Liverpool will naturally be more compact as a result and many of the problems that plague them this season shouldn’t be on show.

It’s why we think Klopp will recall Fabinho for this and go back to a three-man midfield. For one, Klopp is openly a huge fan of Odegaard and sees him as a key player for Arsenal. We can’t imagine he’d risk the two-man midfielder against him.

“[Odegaard] plays a massive role in an incredibly strong Arsenal team,” said Klopp to TV2. “He’s still young, clear in his head, very influential. I honestly can’t say anything negative about him. Really a top player.”

With a player that important, Liverpool can’t afford to play in a way that suits him. Especially when it’s not a system they’re used to in the first place.