Defo worth a read if you can be arsed. From The Athletic.
Liverpool’s right-sided triangle was synonymous with their 2019-20 Premier League title win.
Mohamed Salah coming inside from the wing, Trent Alexander-Arnold pushing on from full-back and Jordan Henderson rotating wide to cover — Liverpool won 21 of the 22 league games the trio started together.
Among the 21 was a 2-1 defeat of visitors Brighton & Hove Albion in November 2019. But since then, Brighton have been a bogey team for Jurgen Klopp’s side — with three Brighton wins and four draws in the nine matches before the two sides met at Anfield again on Sunday.
Klopp had not beaten opposite number Roberto De Zerbi in four meetings. De Zerbi insisted that stat was a “coincidence”, but, since 2020-21, Liverpool only had a worse record (in terms of lowest win rate) against Real Madrid.
In many ways, Liverpool’s 2-1 win yesterday was a repeat of that match four and a half years ago, but with largely different personnel. It was again all about Liverpool’s right side, but Salah was the only constant. Alexis Mac Allister, signed from Brighton in the summer, and Conor Bradley have taken the places of Henderson and Alexander-Arnold respectively.
Alexander-Arnold explained the tactics behind Liverpool’s triangles to The Athletic in 2022: “We have the No 8 in midfield, the full-backs and the wingers on each side. It is about making sure, at all times, there should be someone occupying the width, someone high up on the last line, and someone in a half-space or in a midfield eight.”
It is more fluid than structured, but it’s an interchanging trio which has been less common this season with Alexander-Arnold periodically moving into a central midfield role.
But with Alexander-Arnold out injured and Bradley overlapping from the right of the back four, Liverpool set about exploiting a Brighton defensive block which has struggled all season to prevent or defend through balls, particularly ones inside the full-back.
Liverpool’s approach was compounded by Andy Robertson also being out injured, with right-footed Joe Gomez filling in for him at left-back. Without natural width on that side, Gomez moved into midfield, offering an extra option for central progression, but this left Luis Diaz isolated on the left wing and channelled Liverpool’s attack down the right — especially as Gomez’s right-footedness suited passes to that side.
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Salah looked to play inside, which created space for Bradley to push on into. Mac Allister’s job was to provide service, not cover, with Jarell Quansah and Wataru Endo there to prevent or terminate counter-attacks. Brighton’s left-back, Pervis Estupinan, and left-winger, Simon Adingra, duly struggled against Liverpool’s rotations.
In settled possession, Estupinan would sometimes position himself close to the advanced Bradley, which would pull him outside the vertical line of the ball and open a lane for Mac Allister to slide through passes for Salah — if Adingra switched off, Salah had a free run.
Because Brighton were not as aggressively man-for-man as in other games, there were occasions when Estupinan and Adingra would fail to hand Bradley/Salah over as they rotated, leaving them unmarked.
Here is how the shape primarily looked, with Endo located between Liverpool’s centre-backs, Virgil van Dijk and Quansah. This allowed Quansah to position himself wider, turning the wide triangle into a diamond.
In this sequence, Quansah chips it over Adingra’s head, to Bradley, which triggers Estupinan to go out to the young full-back.
As Estupinan goes, Adingra does not recover quickly enough. Bradley slides it inside to Salah, who dribbles into the area and curls a shot that pings off the outside of the post. His 12 shots yesterday were the most he has ever had in a Premier League match, and half of them came inside its first 20 minutes.
Mac Allister’s progressive passing was a feature of the afternoon — he played 22 such passes, the most by anyone on the pitch and over a quarter of Liverpool’s team total (81). Thirteen of his 58 completions (12 out of 25 when isolated to only forward passes) were to Salah.
The defence-splitting pass from the half-space became Liverpool’s primary route to goal.
Here, Endo is further forward and Liverpool are building up with their centre-backs. Mac Allister receives from Van Dijk, while Bradley makes a dart infield behind Brighton’s midfield. Salah is holding the width.
Mac Allister turns. Adingra was marking Bradley but he and Estupinan switch roles, as the full-back steps up. Mac Allister sees the switch and passes between them, as Salah makes a diagonal run in behind.
Salah, with a clear sight of goal, should shoot or pass, but tries to cut inside onto his dominant left foot. Adingra recovers to tackle him and concedes a corner.
Liverpool’s equaliser came from the second phase of a corner later in the half, again after a right-sided attack — Salah dropped in to receive Endo’s pass (Bradley pushed forward), set it to Mac Allister and a sprinting Tariq Lamptey tackled the Argentinian, which led to the corner.
Klopp called it “the best performance we have had against Roberto’s Brighton. More possession, better possession. A really good rhythm in the game”. Possession and rhythm were words he emphasised beforehand, wanting to minimise Brighton’s build-up (because of how hard it is to press).
The “better possession” that Klopp referenced is important. Liverpool had 55 per cent of the ball, about standard for their other games against De Zerbi’s Brighton, but their 70 per cent field tilt — Liverpool’s share of total final-third passes in the game — was comfortably their highest against them. Brighton were pinned deep often, though they broke out frequently in the first half, as Liverpool’s counter-press was loose and also conceded too many fouls.
“We showed the boys a couple of situations at half-time and told them what we should keep doing, where we had to calm down,” said Klopp. “We tried that, and again controlled big parts of the game, as much as you can against them. It is not always possible because it is super-intense to deny them.”
If Liverpool’s right side indirectly made their equaliser, it undoubtedly crafted the winner. Tellingly, for all their attacks down that side, Liverpool only attempted five crosses from the right, their fewest in a Premier League game since four against Brighton in the reverse fixture in October.
Incisive passing instead of crossing is how Liverpool won the game.
Bradley and Salah are playing on the last line here, so Dominik Szoboszlai provides the width, positioned behind Adingra to receive Van Dijk’s pass.
Szoboszlai dribbles forward, then fizzes a pass across to the unmarked Mac Allister — Brighton’s defence have dropped into the box, and Bradley acts as a screen to pass behind.
Salah, initially marked out the game by Pascal Gross, comes alive as defender Jan Paul van Hecke is deep at the back post, playing him onside. Mac Allister threads it between Lewis Dunk and Gross. Salah takes two touches: one to control, one to score.
Sunday’s performance was a mix of 2019-20 Liverpool — the wide triangles — and the 2023-24 version. They conceded first again but made a comeback, a theme of this season. Danny Welbeck’s goal after 89 seconds was the earliest by a visiting team at Anfield since Harry Kane for Tottenham in October 2019 (47 seconds).
It is their seventh win, and 24th, 25th and 26th points, from a losing position in the Premier League this season, with the former a club record.
Liverpool were more effective than efficient, and a little too emotional at times, but most importantly took charge of the Premier League title race — they are two points clear with nine games each to go after Arsenal and Manchester City’s goalless draw later in the day. Data provider Opta measures this weekend as enhancing Liverpool’s title chances by 12 percentage points, now making them favourites (48 per cent).
Salah, Van Dijk and Gomez were the only players in Liverpool’s starting XI against Brighton who featured in the 2019-20 title-winning season (goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was in the squad but his only appearances were in the domestic cups). Neither new signing Mac Allister nor academy graduate Bradley were first-team players before this summer.
For Liverpool to evolve the squad and refit profiles, but retain their trademark wide-area threat, is testament to their recruitment, depth-planning and coaching
