Liverpool finds some positivity finally as they defeated Napoli in their final group stage game of the Champions League before progressing to the knockouts. The Italian outfit were flawless with five wins out of five but failed to finish with a perfect record as they visited Anfield. It was a very closely fought battle between two great sides and it was only after the 85th minute that the Reds managed to take the lead through their talisman Mohamed Salah. Lastly Darwin Nunez scored the insurance goal right at the fag end of the game to square off a fine win against a very strong team.
While both the teams have qualified for the knockouts, this win will give a lot of confidence to Jurgen Klopp’s men as they look to turn their season around. Till now they have had a lot of negativity around their campaign with plenty of players out due to injuries and also the results have not worked in their favour. So it has been frustrating but it looks like Klopp has found the correct formation finally as he trusts the 4-3-3 system as it allows them to stay solid defensively.
Liverpool defeated Napoli with this formation as Mohamed Salah led the attack with Curtis Jones and Roberto Firmino forming the front three. Thiago Alcantara was paired up with James Milner and Fabinha in the middle. This formation allowed them to keep a dangerous side like Napoli at bay as they defended with all their might and took their chances when the opportunities came their way.
“It is the system we played most often and the system which is familiar to us. When we played well, we can defend really well in that system,” Klopp shared to the media after the 2-0 win over Napoli.
He shared how he did not resort to this formation that often so they have been changing a few stuff so that they can think out of the box and fox their opponents which Klopp definitely did in this match. “We didn’t do that that often when we played it recently. That’s why we had to change a couple of things, give the boys some new things to think about,” added the German tactician.
He also shared how he will keep this as a surprise package and not use this regularly. He shared how the attack is all the same to that of a diamond formation but defensively there was a big difference in a 4-3-3 system.
“It is always on the table for us but doesn’t mean we will now play it all the time. Darwin came on and especially offensively it’s not a problem. There’s no difference to a diamond really. But defensively it is a big difference,” Klopp revealed.
Overall it has been a majorly inconsistent season for the Reds as they have defeated Manchester City recently but have lost to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United in their recent Premier League games. Hence they are ninth in the Premier League points table with four wins, four draws and as many defeats in 12 matches. The Reds will next face Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League as they look to take momentum from this win over Napoli and replicate that to their Premier League season.
