‘Definitely a surprise’: Michael Owen was shocked to see what Jurgen Klopp did today

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Michael Owen was ‘definitely surprised’ to see Liverpool’s 4-4-2 come out v Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp stuck with the formation.

Jurgen Klopp surprised during the week as he switched Liverpool’s formation to play Rangers. The Reds’ boss rarely moves away from his preferred 4-3-3, only doing so on a couple of occasions over the last seven years.

Now, though, it was a 4-4-2. Liverpool haven’t been in good form this season and something needed to happen. Klopp saw the best choice being a formation change and here it was.

It worked, too, as Liverpool beat Rangers 2-0 in a fine display. But we didn’t think he’d stick with it against Arsenal, predicting a move back to 4-3-3.

And yet, Klopp went with it. He trusted his players in a 4-4-2 away at the Gunners in a move that ‘surprised’ Michael Owen.

“Yeah, definitely a surprise to me,” he told Premier League Productions before the game. “I thought he would revert back to his norm. He rarely changes his formation but as we can see there, normally he was one sitter and two in front. Now it’s two sitting and one in front, with [Diogo] Jota.

“That’s the slight tweak that he’s made. Fabinho is obviously the one that has dropped out – his form hasn’t been great this season.”

Liverpool’s 4-4-2 v Arsenal

We really didn’t think Klopp would use the system as Arsenal’s own formation appeared to counter it. Martin Odegaard, in particular, worried us as a player who could find space behind a midfield two.

And the Norwegian created the opener inside a minute. Liverpoo lost the ball high up the pitch and were caught out of position. As the midfield shifted over to cover the left-back slot, Odegaard drifted into space the other side of them.

Arsenal found him, he found Gabriel Martinelli and they had a lead. It’s safe to say we were worried at that point.

But to Liverpool’s credit, Arsenal didn’t find too many openings like that. The Reds faced defensive problems, of course, but that particular issue didn’t crop up all that often. Odegaard could have had a goal himself in the second half, however.

This 4-4-2 isn’t perfect, though. It’s a backup formation – one Klopp has turned to out of desperation, really. The squad is built to play 4-3-3, it’s the system they know but it’s not one that’s working.

4-4-2 will get caught out every now and then but at least it has Liverpool looking relatively dangerous going forward. We’ll see what happens over the next few weeks. Klopp could change back after this defeat but he could also try and refine the system.

With Manchester City waiting next weekend, it’s a big decision to make.