Match Analysis: Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool

Arsenal and Liverpool played out an entertaining goalless draw at the Emirates this evening. Arsenal had an early Aaron Ramsey goal wrongly disallowed for offsides but the visitors were by far the better side in the first half.

Brendan Rodgers said prior to the game that he had studied Arsenal's most recent defeats and realized Arsene Wenger's side bossed possession in them but struggled to break down compact defenses. Arsenal also control possession in the overwhelming majority of home wins as well so I'm not sure how much can be learned by simply comparing possession figures and results. However, it's easy to understand what Rodgers was getting at- Arsenal are a technical and slick passing side and if you try to beat them at their own game in their own stadium it likely won't end well for you.

With that in mind Rodgers set his side out in a 4-3-3 with three center midfielders adept at the defensive side of the game. Lucas Leiva, who had failed to even make the matchday squad in Liverpool's first two games, sat just in front of the back four with Emre Can to his left and James Milner to his right.

Liverpool defended in a 4-1-4-1 shape with Leiva sitting in between the defensive and midfield banks of four. Leiva tracked the movement of Mesut Ozil between the lines. Can picked up Francis Coquelin, who was the right sided holding midfielder, Milner picked up Cazorla, the left sided holding midfielder.

In the first half Liverpool would look for opportunities to press Arsenal high up the pitch. The home side were forced into employing a makeshift center back partnership of Gabriel and Calum Chambers (Laurent Koscielny had a back injury, Per Mertesacker was ill) and Liverpool looked to take advantage of a nervous Arsenal back four. Coutinho rattled the crossbar inside of 4 minutes with the Arsenal defense at sixes and sevens.

Chambers in particular endured a torrid first half. Twice he gave away possession deep in Arsenal's defensive third, leading to Liverpool chances. Arsenal fans were holding their collective breath every time he got on the ball. On a separate occasion he tried to dribble out of defense but was dispossessed at the halfway line, leaving him hopelessly out of position and forcing the much better Gabriel to bail out his partner. The left side of the graphic below shows Gabriel's successful tackles during the 90 minutes. He was the left-sided center back- the two tackles he made in the box occurred when he was forced to provide cover for Chambers. In fact Gabriel made more tackles in Chambers' zone than Chambers made all game.

Arsenal improved in the second half. Liverpool sat deeper and deeper and attacked with fewer numbers. Because Liverpool were getting fewer numbers forward when they were in possession, they didn't have the opportunities to press high up the pitch they had in the first half and therefore forced fewer of the bad giveaways Arsenal were guilty of in the opening 45 minutes.

Arsenal kept sustained pressure on the visitors but there was very little space for them to operate in the final third. Liverpool set up their defensive lines at the edge of their own penalty area and challenged Wenger's side unlock them. Arsenal provided a few of their vintage quick passing combinations to open up the defense and had two good opportunities to open the score, the first Sanchez put into the side netting after being put through on goal, on the second Giroud couldn't get enough contact to beat Mignolet as he reached to get a shot away.

Liverpool were simply too deep and too compact for Arsenal to break down. All of Arsenal's possession was happening in front of the Liverpool back four. Liverpool were rarely made to turn around and face their own goal. Against a side defending that deep, you're not going to be able to get in behind them through the middle of the pitch- there simply isn't enough space between the center backs and goalkeeper. Theo Walcott's introduction for Giroud was therefore never likely to have a huge impact; he's at his most effective in the striker role when he has the space to run behind the center backs.

The one way to get in behind a side defending that deep is in wider areas. If you can channel the ball wide and get the opposition fullback in a position where he has to defend 1 v. 1, opportunities open up to get to the endline and cut it back across the face of goal if you have a player capable of beating the opposition fullback off the dribble. Ramsey is a very gifted player and had a good game but almost always takes up an extremely narrow position when he plays on the right. His positioning therefore can pose difficulties tactically for the opposing fullback but he rarely picks up the ball in wide areas and asks questions of their 1 v. 1 defending ability by running at them. The graphic below shows Ramsey's average position- quite narrow. Ramsey's interior positioning can often overload the opposition center midfielders but that wasn't likely to happen today with Liverpool employing three deeper center mids in their 4-1-4-1 set up. Normally those overloads will occur when the opposition is defending in banks of four and leaving two further up the pitch. Liverpool had ample numbers in the center of the pitch to deal with Ramsey moving into narrow zones.

It's easy to say in hindsight but I thought Wenger should have perhaps introduced Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right earlier. His directness and raw pace may have provided an outlet for Arsenal when they couldn't find the little gaps of space to play their quick combinations. In Joe Gomez he'd have been up against a left back making just his third Premier League appearance. Gomez has been excellent thus far, a far more focused and poised option than Alberto Moreno, but his direct opponents in his first two starts were Stoke's John Walters and Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie. Both are decent enough players but neither have the same ability to run past defenders that Oxlade-Chamberlain possesses. His introduction would have presented Gomez with a challenge he hasn't faced yet in his young career. If he could have beaten Gomez to the endline once or twice and provided cutbacks it would have forced the likes of Skrtel and Lovren to perform the difficult task of clearing the danger while facing their own goal.

Manchester United fluid in 4-3-3; Liverpool attacking midfielders stifled

Early on in his reign at Liverpool Brendan Rodgers expressed that his favorite formation was a 4-3-3 with one holding midfielder flanked by two midfield shuttlers. Louis Van Gaal went into this season fully intending to play the same 3-5-2 at Manchester United that he had success with at the World Cup with Holland. It was ironic then that Manchester United have recently switched to a 4-3-3 while Rodgers has adopted a system with three at the back similar to the one Van Gaal had planned on implementing at United.

The system changes had paid off for both managers. Manchester United came into today's fixture on the back of a 3-0 win over Tottenham, their most impressive display of the season, while Liverpool hadn't lost in the league since their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United in December, the first time they used the 3-4-2-1 they've since switched to.

In the opening half it was Van Gaal's 4-3-3 that won out. United played some of their most fluid football of the season with Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera finding space either side of Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson, the two holders in Liverpool's midfield. Liverpool's system requires a great deal of defensive work in the middle of the pitch from Allen and Henderson because the two attacking midfielders, Adam Lallana and Coutinho today, stay higher up the pitch. As a result, Liverpool can get overloaded in central midfield zones but with three center backs covering in behind it's not always much of a problem in terms of the opposition creating great scoring chances. However, being overloaded in that zone makes it much more difficult to win the ball back which is what we saw today. Manchester United were able to keep possession and dictate the tempo. They had 60% possession at halftime.

Defensively, Van Gaal's side was compact and didn't allow Liverpool to use their four man central midfield to overload them. They defended with a midfield bank of five with Fellaini and Herrera either side of Michael Carrick and Juan Mata and Ashley Young tucking inside from their wide midfield positions. Lallana and Coutinho like to operate in space between the opposition center midfielder and wide midfielder or fullback. However, with United's compact midfield bank of five these spaces didn't exist. Lallana completed just three passes in the attacking third before being subbed off at halftime. Coutinho had more of an impact but didn't enjoy the space to collect possession in midfield and dribble at the defense the way he typically does.

Rodgers tried to change the shape at halftime to give Liverpool more control of the game, replacing Lallana with Steven Gerrard. Liverpool changed from a midfield box with two holders and two attacking midfielders to a diamond with a holder in Gerrard, two shuttlers in Allen and Henderson and a #10 at the tip of the diamond in Coutinho. Gerrard was meant to dictate the tempo at the base of midfield and find penetrating, expansive forward passes. During the extremely brief period he was on the pitch the change in shape seemed to be having the desired impact of giving Liverpool more control of the game. Gerrard completed four passes including a sweeping cross field switch to the right channel.

Liverpool fought well after Gerrard's dismissal but Van Gaal's side were deserving winners. They seem to have struck a nice balance in recent weeks with Rooney in his favored position up front and the excellent Mata getting a run in the side. This result struck a blow to Liverpool's UCL hopes- they haven't been particularly good over the last two games and will need to be at their best from here on out if they're to have any chance of catching United.

Thoughts on Liverpool 1-1 Everton

Phil Jagielka's incredible stoppage time volley gave Everton a share of the spoils at Anfield after Steven Gerrard put Liverpool ahead with a vintage 65th minute free kick.

The most interesting tactical feature of the match was in the wide areas- Roberto Martinez played Romelu Lukaku wide on the right and kept him high up the pitch and Brendan Rodgers played Raheem Sterling wide on the left to use his pace to run at 33 year old Everton right back Tony Hibbert, making his first league start in over 600 days.

Lukaku wide right

Using Lukaku wide on the right has become a more common feature of Martinez's lineups this season. He used it for the first time last season in Everton's 3-0 win over Arsenal, a game in which Lukaku terrorized Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen on the left side of Arsenal's defense and employed it again in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal this season.

Everton used a 4-3-3 shape today with Gareth Barry sitting in front of the back four with Muhamed Besic and James McCarthy either side of him. They defended with a midfield bank of four- James McCarthy slid to the widest position on the right of the midfield four, responsible for tracking Liverpool left back Alberto Moreno. This allowed Lukaku to stay higher up the pitch in a position down the right channel, free from the responsibility of running with Moreno. Moreno plays high up the pitch when Liverpool are in possession, meaning he was leaving space in behind him on Liverpool's left. Everton looked to play quick outlet passes into Lukaku in this area. Those outlet passes forced Dejan Lovren to move into the channels to close Lukaku down, leaving a gap of space between himself and Martin Skrtel. Steven Naismith and Kevin Mirallas (then Aiden McGeady when Mirallas went off injured) were responsible for making runs from deeper positions into that gap to finish off moves.

There were a few moments in the first half when Everton looked dangerous employing that strategy but for the most part Moreno did well to make recovery runs and Lovren did enough when forced to close Lukaku down in the channels. Everton were certainly hurt by the injury to Mirallas. He's far more dynamic with his runs from outside to in than is McGeady. They lacked the threat of his direct vertical running and willingness to get into the box.

Sterling vs Hibbert

Raheem Sterling has typically played at the top of a midfield diamond for Liverpool this season but with Daniel Sturridge still missing through injury, Rodgers opted to play a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 shape. Adam Lallana played behind Mario Balotelli in the #10 role with Sterling taking up a position on the left wing. It was easy to see Rodgers' thinking- with Hibbert in the side at right back for Everton Sterling had a massive speed advantage down that side and was expected to run at Hibbert at every opportunity. Hibbert was beaten for pace on a few occasions but fared reasonably well considering how infrequently he's played over the last two seasons. However, Liverpool could have killed the game off when Sterling easily dribbled past the Everton right back and crossed for Balotelli only for his effort to be saved brilliantly onto the bar by Tim Howard.

Final thoughts

For a Merseyside derby, this was surprisingly a slow burner, particularly given the attacking nature of both managers. Both sides were reasonably compact throughout meaning it never really opened up and we didn't get the loud roars from the crowd usually heard in the closing stages of big derbies. Lukaku and Balotelli both mistimed headers that could have led to goals and Balotelli hit the bar but aside from that there were few really clear cut chances. Both goals came from moments of individual skill rather than brilliant team play.

Grading the young players at the Premier League's top clubs

I looked at the age of the 11 starting players for each of the 20 Premier League teams in match week 1 in order to get an idea of how teams were balancing the use of promising youthful players and more experienced veterans (you can see that information in the chart on the previous post). For the sake of this post I was most interested in seeing to what extent the clubs likely to contest for the league title and Champions League places over the next 5 years (I look at Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United) are using young players (which I define as younger than 25). Clubs with older squads will of course have to spend more on incoming transfers in future seasons in order to revamp their squads and remain competitive. This could be significant given that FFP should in theory restrict the ability of clubs financed by super wealthy owners like Manchester City and Chelsea to spend as they wish. The days of those clubs bringing in five or more big name transfers in a single window are likely gone. It is therefore seemingly more important for big squads to have young players that can contribute well into the future or can be sold at a premium price to finance the purchase of other players.

There are of course limitations with looking at just one week of games and we can't make sweeping predictions based on this data. The absence of a young player or two due to injury or fitness will skew the data if they were replaced by significantly older players. Likewise, the opposite is true- veterans who normally start but were forced to miss the opening week and were replaced by young ones (eg Calum Chambers replaced Per Mertesacker at Arsenal) will skew the data the other way.

The measure of squad youthfulness I looked at was the number of players a squad had under 25. I'll discuss the quality of those players for each club and what they suggest the future may hold for their respective clubs.

Arsenal

Arsenal started more players under 25 than any other club in match week 1 with 6- Wojciech Szczesny (24), Jack Wilshere (22), Calum Chambers (19), Aaron Ramsey (23), Kieran Gibbs (24) and Yaya Sanogo (21). This isn't terribly surprising. Arsene Wenger has always had a talent for developing young players and the faith in them to play them. Szczesny isn't always the most convincing keeper but seemed to improve his decision making and propensity for big errors last season. Wilshere was the most hyped of all of Arsenal's young players and although it would be unfair to say he's been a disappointment, he's maybe not quite as far along in his development as some would have expected by now. Injuries haven't helped but it's difficult to say whether his best position is a #10 or more of a box-to-box #8. At the moment Arsenal have more talented players in both positions. Gibbs is a solid, reliable left back. Ramsey endured a difficult spell after suffering that horrific broken leg but surprisingly emerged last season as one of the Premier League's outstanding midfielders. He's athletic enough to track back and win tackles and run past defenders with the dribble, has the vision and passing ability to provide the final ball in attacking third and a strikers finishing ability in the penalty area- a true all around midfielder. The jury is still very much out on Yaya Sanogo. He looked awkward, uncoordinated and totally out of his place in his appearances last season and although he enjoyed a solid preseason, his performance in Arsenal's opening day win over Crystal Palace suggested he's along way from being good enough to play for a side hoping to contest the title. Joel Campbell (22) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (21) were on the subs bench for Arsenal with Oxlade-Chamberlain coming on in the second half. Both players look promising. Along with this collection of players under 25. Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez are all just 25. Arsenal appear to be in fairly good shape for the future in they can retain their players.

Young player grade: A

Manchester United

Manchester United have plenty of youthful players but not enough have shown they have the quality to play at a club with such consistently high expectations. Of the five players under 25 that started their opening day defeat to Swansea, Tyler Blackett (20) and Jesse Lingard (21) were making their Manchester United debuts. Phil Jones (22) and Chris Smalling (24) are solid enough squad players but have yet to establish themselves as first team regulars and they need to step up their performances in defense after the summer departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. For me Jones looks the more likely to do so. Only goalkeeper David De Gea (23) has been a regular starter at the club. At 25, new midfield signing Ander Herrera is still quite young and an upgrade on Tom Cleverley (also 25) while 26 year old Juan Mata should still have several seasons remaining at his peak. Danny Welbeck's (23) energy and work rate are useful off the bench but he's never given the impression he'll be a 20 goal a season scorer. New signing Marcos Rojo (24) offers versatility at the back- he can play center back or left wing back- and has big game experience having started in 6 of Argentina's 7 World Cup games including the final. Luke Shaw (19) was excellent at Southampton last season and came with a hefty price tag. Louis Van Gaal was unimpressed with his fitness this summer and he's probably more suited to playing as a traditional fullback in a four man defense than a wing back in Van Gaal's 3-4-1-2 but LVG is tactically flexible and may well change shape in the near future. United's key big players Wayne Rooney (28), Robin Van Persie (31) and Michael Carrick (33) all have their best years behind them. Van Gaal has never been afraid to install youth players and he'll need to consider how he'll replace those three sooner rather than later.

Young player grade: B

Tottenham

Tottenham can be cautiously optimistic about [most of] their five young starters from week 1- (Christian Eriksen (22), Nabil Bentaleb (19), Eric Dier (20), Danny Rose (24) and Erik Lamela (22). Eriksen already established himself as a quality Premier League player in his first season, compiling 7 league goals and 8 assists. Bentaleb started in 3 of Algeria's 4 games at the World Cup and should continue to get opportunities to develop under Mauricio Pochettino, who showed in his time at Southampton he's more than happy to field capable youngsters. Dier's Spurs debut got off to a flying start as he picked up a stoppage time winner over Spurs and MOTM honors. Danny Rose is inconsistent and prone to errors but Spurs have just signed 21 year old Ben Davies from Swansea. Davies became a regular starter early last season under Michael Laudrup and was a surprising success- he could secure the left back position over Rose. The verdict is out on Lamela- Spurs' record signing was certainly a disappointment in his first season, struggling to get a game before succumbing to injury- but he enjoyed a strong preseason and should enjoy a stronger rapport with fellow countrymen Pochettino than with Tim Sherwood in the second half of last season. Spurs are also currently missing 24 year old right back Kyle Walker through injury. Walker is exceptionally athletic and likely would have been England's starting right back at the World Cup. Under Pochettino the young players will get their chances.

Young player grade: B

Liverpool

Four of Liverpool's five starters under 25 played an integral part in the Merseyside outfit's impressive second place finish last season. Daniel Sturridge scored 21 goals, second only to then teammate Luis Suarez in the Premier League. Raheem Sterling was something of a revelation, scoring 9 goals and assisting 5. Coutinho's 7 goals and 7 assists were likewise impressive while Jordan Henderson provided 4 goals and 7 assists of his own as he improved vastly from the previous season. Those four players combined for 41 goals and 28 assists. Liverpool's fifth starter under 25 from match week 1 was right back Javier Manquillo, on loan from Atletico Madrid. Brendan Rodgers has also added 20 year old winger Lazar Markovic from Benfica, a player with high expectations after impressing in Portugal. Liverpool look poised for a bright future but like Arsenal need to do what they can to hold on to their best players.

Young player grade: A

Chelsea

Chelsea boast an outrageously talented collection of young players. Of their five starters under 25 in match week one, Cesar Azpilicueta, Oscar, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois were all regular starters at the World Cup. The fifth player, Andre Schurrle, was Germany's second leading scorer off the bench and provided the assist for Mario Gotze's winner in the final. Add in Diego Costa (25), Willian (26) and Nemanja Matic (26), it's a Chelsea side you'd expect to remain stable for quite some time. Chelsea also won the under-21 Premier League last season though few of the club's youth players end up getting a chance with the senior side. After years spent shelling out on big money signings at or just past the peak of their best, Chelsea's recent signing of younger talent bodes well for the future.

Young Player Grade: A

Manchester City

The five teams that started five or more players under 25 make up five of the six Premier League teams you'd expect to compete for a top four finish consistently. The sixth, Manchester City, have quite a different squad makeup. The defending league champions started just one player under 25 in match week one, forward Stevan Jovetic. New center back signing Eliaquim Mangala is the only other City player under 25 likely to play any sort of a prominent role this season. Jovetic and Matija Nastasic are the only City players under 25 to have appeared in more than 10 league games last season; Nastasic is certain to depart for Italy before the transfer window closes after the arrival of Mangala. The lack of young players in the squad suggests the club aren't terribly concerned with FFP compliance in the coming years since they'll need to continue to purchase players as current squad members pass their peak. City's plethora of veteran players with title winning experience certainly contributed in part to their success last season but in the near future its squad will need an overhaul.  With FFP City won't be able to make that overhaul in one transfer window. Of City's five signings last summer only Jovetic is under 25 while Fernandinho is 29, Jesus Navas is 28, Alvaro Negredo is 29 and Martin Demichelis is 33. They need to start making signings with an eye towards the future. Their U-21 side finished 4th in the U-21 Premier League last season so there are promising young players at the club but, like Chelsea, promotion to the senior squad for youth players has been all but impossible in recent years.

Young player grade: C-

Rodgers starts in 4-2-3-1 then makes changes

4-2-3-1 has been the popular formation in the Premier League the last few seasons but one that Brendan Rodgers did not use during his side's surprising second place finish last season. Rodgers has stated he prefers 4-3-3 with a single holding midfielder and two runners over 4-2-3-1 because it allows for more vertical passing options. He's stated that in 4-2-3-1 the two holding midfielders can often end up playing too many harmless side to side passes to one another. You can hear Rodgers explain in the video below.

One of the big pluses with 4-2-3-1 of course is that two deep lying holders provide better cover for the back four than one. When Liverpool played 4-3-3 or a diamond 4-4-2 last season, Steven Gerrard operated as the lone holder. Gerrard is a fantastic player but isn't always positionally disciplined and at 34 isn't as mobile as he once was. As a result, Liverpool's defense was often left too exposed. They scored a remarkable 101 goals but conceded 50, 13 more than the Manchester City side that would beat them to the title and 23 more than Chelsea. Their capitulation at Selhurst Park after going 3-0 up in the penultimate game of the season, a game that would end 3-3 and all but give City the title, summed up Liverpool's biggest problem in an otherwise great season- they were incredibly fluid and could score with ease but struggled to change their approach and tighten things up when circumstances dictated they should do so.

Perhaps as a result of his side's openness last season, Rodgers opted for a 4-2-3-1 today with Lucas and Gerrard holding in front of the back four. Liverpool were certainly more solid and compact defensively. They did not get as stretched on the counter and Southampton didn't create much the opening 45 minutes. However, they also offered far less penetrative passing than we saw last season. When Liverpool play 4-3-3 (or 4-1-4-1 if you prefer) and Gerrard gets the ball in deep areas he generally has 4 midfielders in front of him to play forward passes into- the two shuttling center midfielders, Coutinho and Allan likely candidates, and the two wide midfielders (Figure 2). As a result Liverpool play more vertically, get forward more quickly and have more players in the attacking third. In the 4-2-3-1, Lucas sits alongside Gerrard, leaving him with only 3 midfielders higher up the pitch to play forward passes into- the #10 (Coutinho today) and the two wide midfielders (Sterling and Henderson today). When the opposition defends in banks of four as Southampton did today, having three attacking midfielders in advance of Gerrard rather than the four we see in a 4-3-3 makes it easier to defend- Southampton's midfield bank of 4 has a 4 v. 3 advantage in the midfield zone (Figure 1). As a result, Liverpool played a lot of sideways passes between the holding midfielders and center backs and struggled to funnel the ball into the attacking third at pace.

Figure 1: Three advanced midfielders for Gerrard to pass to with Liverpool in 4-2-3-1 formation. Opposition has 2 v. 1 advantage on Coutinho in Liverpool's attacking midfield zone.

Figure 1: Three advanced midfielders for Gerrard to pass to with Liverpool in 4-2-3-1 formation. Opposition has 2 v. 1 advantage on Coutinho in Liverpool's attacking midfield zone.

Figure 2: Four advanced midfielders for Gerrard to pass to with Liverpool in a 4-3-3 formation. Attacking midfield zone is now 2 v. 2. Wanyama and Schneiderlin each have a direct opponent.

Figure 2: Four advanced midfielders for Gerrard to pass to with Liverpool in a 4-3-3 formation. Attacking midfield zone is now 2 v. 2. Wanyama and Schneiderlin each have a direct opponent.

After Southampton equalized, Rodgers switched to his more attacking 4-3-3 shape replacing Lucas with Joe Allen. Although the shape gives Liverpool more attacking thrust, immediately we saw some of the same defensive problems Liverpool were faced with when they played that formation last season. Gerrard was left to shield the back four on his own and almost immediately Liverpool conceded possession with Gerrard out of position towards the left wing. With no one patrolling the center of the park for Liverpool, James Ward-Prowse got the ball in acres of space in the middle of the pitch and was able to drive uncontested at the Liverpool center backs. The 19 year old Southampton midfielder made the wrong choice in trying to shoot from 25 yards out with better passing options on either side of him but a more experienced side will punish Rodgers' side for allowing themselves to become that open.

Rodgers then replaced Coutinho with Rickie Lambert and moved to 4-4-2. With Allen higher up the pitch than Gerrard Liverpool were even more open and Southampton continued to threaten. Liverpool got the winner however, more as a result of some good fortune and hesitant Southampton defending then Rodgers' tactical changes. Lambert appeared to handle the ball on the sideline in the build up to Liverpool's goal then Southampton failed to deal with the second ball after Clyne initially headed clear a Henderson cross. Sterling nodded Clyne's header towards an unmarked Sturridge at the back post for a tap in.

Incredibly, with his side continuing to look stretched defensively in midfield, Rodgers elected not to use his third sub to bring on a third central midfielder for Sturridge or Sterling. Emre Can seemed like the obvious choice. Instead Sterling, Sturridge and Lambert all stayed high up the pitch and Liverpool defended with a midfield three of Gerrard, Allen and Henderson. Southampton continued to be dangerous and Liverpool were fortunate to escape with the three points. Morgan Schneiderlin rattled the crossbar for Southampton and Shane Long missed an open net with a follow up header.

Rodgers is an excellent manager, adept at changing systems while still getting his sides to play fluid, coherent football. However, his decisions today seemed strange. At home against a side gutted by players departing on summer transfers, you'd have thought he'd be a bit more adventurous with his team selection and gone with a 4-3-3 from the outset. Yet when the circumstances of the match dictated he should make cautious changes, he did not.