The Premier League returns this weekend following a summer break, with Liverpool facing Chelsea in a high-profile opening on Sunday afternoon. The Reds will not have an easy start to the season, as Stamford Bridge will host a showdown between two English football heavyweights.
Jürgen Klopp enters the match with few injury concerns, but it remains to be seen what he’ll do in the middle of the park. After allowing Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to leave to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, the German coach is currently without a specialist holding midfielder.
Roméo Lavia remains a target, although Southampton appears unwilling to accept a lower proposal for his services. Due to the lack of a defensive-minded midfielder at Anfield, Klopp has been testing Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister in the role throughout pre-season.
Liverpool’s evident vacancy might pose an issue in the first game, especially given Klopp’s philosophy. He has recently adopted a new-look 3-2-5 attacking structure, which is used whenever the Reds have possession, but it is worth mentioning that 4-3-3 is still used while his players are defending.
The player who replaces Fabinho will have to be comfortable being a lone holding midfield presence at times, which is a concern given that both Jones and Mac Allister are naturally expressive and attack-minded. Klopp is contemplating providing a temporary repair ahead of the match.
After Liverpool defeated Darmstadt in a friendly on Monday night, Klopp hinted at employing a different formation for the one-off match. Klopp told LFCTV: “Now we have to find, in the next five or six days, a formation for the Chelsea game, not for the whole season, and then we go from there.”
His choice of words is odd, given that Liverpool may have the players to play 4-2-3-1 against Stamford Bridge.
Indeed, Klopp’s preferred system during his early days as a potential coach was 4-2-3-1. During his successful tenure as manager of Borussia Dortmund, he utilised that framework every week, winning the Bundesliga twice and reaching the Champions League final.
He has barely used 4-2-3-1 since arriving in England in 2015, but now could be the ideal time for him to go back in time, with Jones and Mac Allister potentially capable of forming a midfield partnership, with Dominik Szoboszlai or Cody Gakpo deployed as Liverpool’s number 10.
Trent Alexander-Arnold also possesses the technical ability to play in the center of the field, while Joe Gomez provides the necessary defensive benefits to cope as a right-back against an offensive-minded team like Chelsea. Klopp undoubtedly has choices, but all of them are attacking.
Mohamed Salah will almost certainly start on the right wing, with Luis Daz or Diogo Jota on the left. Darwin Nunez has the poaching instinct to be Liverpool’s striker, but his defensive inefficiencies suggest that Klopp will start the South American against Bournemouth six days later.
Overall, a precise 3-2-5 structure has been fine-tuned throughout preseason, but with Chelsea on the horizon and no established number six in the squad, Klopp would be perfectly justified in opting for a short-term fix this weekend. And if a positive outcome can be reached thanks to his tactical curveball, no Reds fan will complain.
