Jurgen Klopp has made a major formation change at Liverpool as he looks to get the Reds on track vs Rangers tonight. It could be season-defining.
Jurgen Klopp appears to have changed Liverpool’s formation against Rangers tonight. The Reds’ boss named four forwards and two midfielders in his lineup, signalling something new.
Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez all make the XI. The midfield two is Thiago and Jordan Henderson, with a typical back-four of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Kostas Tsimikas.
It suggests a 4-2-4 formation. The defence will remain the same but there’s no holding midfielder here. Instead, Klopp goes with Henderson and Thiago in sitting roles, with less of a need for them to get forward.
The front four sounds like Diogo Jota playing just off Nunez – Diaz and Salah likely take up their normal positions on the flanks.
Jurgen Klopp makes a formation change
This is quite massive for Liverpool. Klopp has stuck rigidly to his 4-3-3 formation outside of injury crisis situations – this is a change because of a form crisis.
It’s a very attacking change, too, but one that could fix problems. Liverpool won’t be quite as easy to play through as there will be two midfielders sitting back to stop counter-attacks. It’s typically only one player who does that, with Fabinho holding his position as players either side of him push on. Teams have taken advantage of that on the counter-attack.
All in all, we think Jurgen Klopp has made the right decision here. Liverpool should be harder to play through, while the variety in attack is remarkable.
