Liverpool routed a miserable Southampton on Wednesday night, hitting six at St. Mary’s to seal a League Cup semi final spot.
Fielding a semi-full strength side for the game, Klopp saw his bold approach pay off with a 6-1 win at the home of Southampton.
The German made six changes for the game that played at the weekend, bringing in Randall, Sturridge, Origi, Allen, Lucas and Bodgan for Clyne, Benteke, Ibe, Milner, Firmino and Mignolet. A first start for Daniel Sturridge under Klopp was the highlight of all those changes.
It was more like a 4-4-2 diamond system, with Origi and Sturridge leading the line, Lallana just behind, with an inverted triangle midfield of Allen, Can and Lucas.
The backline had one change with rookie rightback Connor Randall coming in for the rested Clyne, Bodgan was given the chance ahead of Simon Mignolet between the posts.
We all know Southampton are a team who like to play out from wide getting fullbacks higher up the pitch and getting their aerial prowess imposed. They got their first goal from the the cross which was headed home by Mane. After that their meaningful attacks came from that left hand side wide.
So, Klopp going with a narrow formation worked perfectly as Liverpool played through the defense of the Saints.
The general formation and movement of Liverpool against the Saints, saw Origi and Sturridge continuously drift wide blocking the runs of fullbacks Bertrand and Cedric, allowing Lallana, Can and Allen to press in the central part of the pitch. With Lucas just in between the centre backs protecting them, Randall and Moreno limiting their runs forward but penetrating whenever possible.
When not in possession, Lallana dropped a bit deeper and helped Can and Allen to retain possession, Lucas coming in between Skrtel and Lovren. Allen and Can coming back wide to help the fullbacks.
Once the wide plays of Southampton were blocked, they struggled to attack through the middle, with Liverpool continuously drifting their positions and making Saints with a lot to do.
The Liverpool fans will be happy with another tactical tweak paying off for their talismanic manager Jurgen Klopp, who seem to have answers to all the tactical positions of the opposition,. The key is that he makes those subtle changes which does the opposition altogether before they realise.
