Liverpool 3-1Man City Tactical Analysis: A Game Filled with lots of Drama

Liverpool thrust into position they've never been before, and it's making Man City suffer
If anyone doubts what a phenomenal football team Manchester City are, they need only to look at the Premier League table from the last two years.
Liverpool used an unexpected plan to beat Man City

Point accumulations of 100 in 2017/18 and 98 in 2018/19 give credence to the notion that Pep Guardiola has built one of the best teams this division has ever witnessed.

Yet this season Liverpool are building on their own ground-breaking 97 point haul with a start that can only be matched by City in 2017/18 and 2011/12. The Reds have a possible 34 points from 36 following their 3-1 win at Anfield last Sunday.

City lie in unfamiliar territory in fourth place with 25 points, they have tasted defeat three times in the opening quarter of the season. The champions have suffered with defensive issues, however they do not look like their formidable selves, having ceded ground to Chelsea and Leicester City, also.

What that means for City's prospects this season is unclear. Yes, you wouldn't automatically rule them out of going now until the end of the campaign without dropping a single point, they have proved they are an elite side, as mentioned.

However, when putting the monumental task of matching their previous point hauls on paper, it looks increasingly sobering. Currently, the maximum amount of points City can finish on is 103. If they wanted to match their 2017/18 total off 100 points they can only drop three points. To match last seasons tally they can only drop two.

Ahead of last season’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg, Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho somewhat cynically claimed, "Liverpool are a team who like to play long balls, fighting for the balls, keep the players around the middle.” In Sunday’s hugely important 3-1 victory, Fernandinho’s side were again at the mercy of Jürgen Klopp’s playing style; and yes, that included a healthy dose of long balls. But that should not be seen as a disparagement.

To be clear, Opta defines a long ball as a forward pass that exceeds 35 yards and is sent into a space or zone of the pitch, rather than a pass which targets a teammate. A long pass is one which is 35 yards or more, aimed at a teammate, but it does not necessarily have to be forward. The distinction is vital.

Either with long balls or long passes, Liverpool made short work of City at times. A midfield of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and Gini Wijnaldum was able to fight for the second ball and recycle it, just as a 2018 Fernandinho had warned. The Reds are also able to bypass opposition midfields and hit their defences with long balls from the high backline.

In the 3-1 win at Anfield, Liverpool played a total of 73 long balls to City’s 56. In the Premier League so far, that tally ranks as the Reds’ fourth-highest total in a match this season. Beyond that, there were 77 long balls against Sheffield United (A), 78 against Leicester City (H), and 81 away to Burnley (who pumped 81 in response to defend the long-ball crown). A cursory glance shows that there is seemingly no correlation between Liverpool using long balls and playing either at home or away.

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