Next up, Liverpool travel to Italy to face the dark horses of the Champions League, free-flowing Atalanta. The Italian club is one of the best attacking sides playing in the Champions League and Liverpool have a lack of centre-backs. But Jurgen Klopp will hope his side to conjure something out of the game, given their big-match experience and the team’s hunger and appetite to win.
A huge area of concern for Klopp will again be his centre-backs but looking at Liverpool’s recent performances, he should not be worried. The likes of Henderson and Wijnaldum have done very well in the midfield and have worked hard for the defence. It will be interesting to see who Klopp selects in the starting XI as it will be Liverpool’s toughest game in the Champions League this season.
Let us now look at the systems and personnel Klopp might go for in the game against Atalanta.
THE 4-3-3
This system is a well-balanced system, but Klopp will surely give more emphasis on the defence, against Atalanta. Williams and Gomez is a fairly young and inexperienced centre-back pairing and will need to be careful about the opposition strikers, as they tend to score a lot of goals from in and around the six-yard box. The full-backs, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold will have an ever-so-important task later tonight as Atalanta also create from the sides with great wing-backs.
Henderson and Wijnaldum will be in charge of guarding the back-four and also initiating attacks for Liverpool. Curtis Jones has done very well this season for the Reds whenever has been given a chance by Klopp, who seems to like the youngster. If Liverpool are to won tonight, they will have to win the midfield battle, as Atalanta play expansive football but are also caught out because of the same.
The responsibility of scoring goals will be as usual on the shoulders of Mane and Salah, as Firmino has found it difficult to score goals. Firmino will drop deep in such a system to receive the ball in spaces and create play from thereon.
THE 4-2-3-1
This might be little defensive set-up but this might just be the answers to the attacking prowess of the Atalanta side. Phillips did a good job at centre-back in the Premier League and Klopp might play him again tonight rewarding his performance. But still, Wijnaldum and Henderson will have to do their defensive duties with the utmost care, because of the centre-back woes of Liverpool.
The likes of Jota, Salah and Mane have played very well in the recent past having scored a lot of goals. In such a system, Firmino will play deeper in the midfield, which is his favourable position, which gives him the liberty to be part of the buildup. The full-backs will be expected to play a little defensively in this system because of the creative front-four.
The game will be expected to be an end-to-end fixture as both the sides are very strong going forward but struggle defensively.
