Alex Keble analyses how Liverpool restored their five-point lead at the top with a thumping win over Chelsea.
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Liverpool’s first Premier League match since Jurgen Klopp announced his imminent departure felt like a highlights package of the era, a nostalgic look back on how it will all be remembered.
Their performance across the 90 minutes – a whirlwind of energy, a swarming counter-press and chances galore – was pure Klopp.
But so too was the frantic entertainment from all quarters, be it an outstanding performance from an academy player or Darwin Nunez hitting the woodwork four times, more than any player in history during a single Premier League match.
Had those four shots gone in, Liverpool would have run out 8-1 winners, and frankly it wouldn’t have flattered them.
Liverpool were irrepressibly dominant from start to finish, putting in arguably the finest single performance of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign to date.
They simply blew Chelsea away tactically, technically, and psychologically in what was the best of Klopp’s Liverpool and a sign that his tenure could end with a second Premier League title.
The news of Klopp’s departure would appear to have galvanised the players, and they look to be getting into their stride – and back to their peak – at just the right moment.
Here’s how Liverpool’s 4-1 victory over Chelsea encapsulated the Klopp era.
Rotations and counter-press a Klopp showreel
“No playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation,” was Klopp’s famous dictum, and it became the defining tactical feature that he brought to English football.
You won’t see a better example of it than Wednesday night’s win at Anfield, where Liverpool showed a surging, relentless energy in counter-pressing to win the ball back straight after losing it.
They won possession in the final third 13 times, their most in any match this season.
Better yet, Liverpool won 20 tackles, which is their second-highest total in a Premier League game this season, and having attempted 23 tackles that means they had a remarkable 87 per cent success rate, the highest in any Premier League match in 2023/24.
It formed the foundation of everything Liverpool did, benefiting them in several distinct ways.
It acted as the playmaker and it also kept Chelsea pinned back, suffocating them into submission. This was most obviously advantageous in those transitional moments, when raking long balls caught out a disorganised opposition.
But of greater significance is the way their world-class counter-press meant Liverpool didn’t need to stick rigidly to positions while in possession: they didn’t get caught out by their lopsided shape when they lost the ball because Chelsea were harassed into giving it straight back.
Again, that’s classic Klopp.
A look at Dominik Szoboszlai’s touch map hints at how weird Liverpool’s in-possession shape was, swinging wildly around the pitch and bunching in areas to overwhelm and confuse the Chelsea players in any given area.
It is very difficult to track this kind of movement, from Diogo Jota popping up in a variety of roles to Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones swapping positions.
Here, then, was pure Klopp: the counter-press and the positional rotation working hand-in-hand to create the paradox of chaotic attacking football that is always in control. Chelsea’s heads were spinning.
A star is born in Bradley
So, how about that performance from Conor Bradley? pic.twitter.com/M9KNTkDSGv
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 1, 2024
In the 58th minute, 20-year-old Conor Bradley, making just his second Premier League start, made a brilliant tackle and then, almost in the same movement, skinned his opponent to win Liverpool a free-kick.
The action prompted a chant from The Kop we will surely grow accustomed to: “There’s only one Conor Bradley”.
It was a sensational performance from the young right-back, whose anticipation of danger, hard tackling, and surging forward runs – in a distinctive pounding-the-turf gait – were reminiscent of Andrew Robertson.
He made four key passes, more than any other player, and won the most fouls (four), becoming the youngest player to score and assist in a Premier League match for Liverpool since Raheem Sterling in August 2014.
The sort of moments you dream of 💭@conorbradley03's first goal for the Reds was something special 👏 pic.twitter.com/4C7iDBHJMk
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 1, 2024
Bradley ended the match with a hat-trick of goal involvements, all three actions a pulse of electricity either on the counter-attack or on a charge that gave the illusion of a fast break.
His first assist, for the crucial opener, is worth looking at in greater detail. Bradley showed superb anticipation to make a tackle and a Klopp-like mentality to keep running, play an incisive pass, and keep running still, helping to open up space for Diogo Jota by overlapping.
Chelsea’s weakness on the flanks
From a Chelsea perspective, all three of the goals in which Bradley had a hand exposed their biggest tactical weakness in the match.
Mauricio Pochettino’s wingers consistently struggled to track back effectively, leaving their full-backs exposed and allowing Bradley to dominate on the outside, most notably for the second, as Sterling failed to keep up.
Chelsea’s defensive issues on the flanks also explain why Liverpool got so much joy from those Klopp-patented diagonal balls to the wings; an important feature at Anfield as the hosts spread the play from side to side, leading directly to the third goal.
In truth, Pochettino’s side were second best in every department, caught up in the storm and unable to gain a foothold.
They managed just four shots on goal all evening, while Liverpool’s 28 were the joint-most against Chelsea since records began in 2003/04.
They weren’t allowed to compete, of course, by that counter-press, the "gegenpress" and some superb one-touch football in the Liverpool midfield, led by the excellent Alexis Mac Allister, who made a remarkable eight tackles.
It was Klopp’s Liverpool in a nutshell: a memorable symbol of what they’ll miss, but also of what is still to come over the final four months of the season.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
