Prior to the match against Brighton, Jurgen Klopp had choices to make.
Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were out for the Liverpool manager due to suspension, and Cody Gakpo, Stefan Bajcetic, and Thiago were absent due to injury.
The Reds’ midfield and attack were a touch undermanned as a result. The midweek matchup with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise wasn’t particularly beneficial either. You knew Ryan Gravenberch wouldn’t start against the Seagulls since he was supposed to play the full 90 minutes against the Belgian team at Anfield but was taken off after 79 minutes owing to fatigue. At Anfield, Wataru Endo participated in the first half before being changed. Because Klopp said it was a scheduled change, it was assumed he would start on Sunday.
But that wasn’t the case, as Harvey Elliott took the place of the suspended Jones to make his first Premier League start of the year. Dominik Szoboszlai was moved to the left side of the three, while Elliott was brought in as the right-sided midfielder, meaning Klopp had to rearrange the midfield.
There is always the possibility that changing two midfield positions for one player will have an effect.
Szoboszlai, who has been one of Liverpool’s top performers on the right side of the pitch this season, was suddenly filling a new function on the opposing wing.
When asked why Elliott was selected ahead of the game, Klopp told Sky Sports: “Just the way Harvey looked in the last few weeks. He performed well on Thursday. He hasn’t played too much lately, in my opinion. He appeared a few times, participated in games, shown some rhythm, and is an excellent player. The choice that led to that was so that. We must be extremely powerful, adept with the ball, and proficient in one-on-one matches. Brighton’s man-marking style calls for either extreme quickness or great toughness on the ball. He is capable of becoming both, just like all the others, thus that was the cause.”
Although it was a risky decision, did it ultimately succeed?
Yes, Elliott was crucial to Liverpool’s goal that restored parity. Lewis Dunk was pushed by him, and he lost control of the ball as a result. The ball was then dummied by him, and he let it roll to Mohamed Salah, who calmly passed it past Bart Verbruggen.
And sure, it makes sense to add a midfielder who was at ease in a hybrid role given the aggressive shape the Reds have chosen. It was more of a 4-4-2 while defending and a 3-2-5 when attacking instead of the normal 3-2-2-3 shape used by the Reds when they had the ball and the 4-3-3 when they didn’t.
Elliott would move to the right, which made room for Salah to join Darwin in a front-two. Szoboszlai then stepped up to play as an attacking midfielder for Liverpool, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alexis Mac Allister serving as the midfield’s anchors.
You can see how Liverpool prepared to push in the still up top. It would be led by Darwin and Salah, with Elliott moving to the right and Diaz to the left. Regardless of who of the two Brighton midfielders dropped to receive the ball, Szoboszlai would try to stop the pass.
Few members of the team are capable of playing the multiple roles Elliott was assigned. The decision to name the number 19 in the starting XI made sense given the plan. However, the 20-year-old had trouble.
He attempted only 17 passes in the first 45 minutes, connecting 76% of the time with a teammate. He made no tackles and only prevailed in one of three ground battles. The youthful ex-Fulham player failed to complete even one dribble. Klopp discussed pace and physicality on the ball. Elliott actually lacks both of these qualities, which is one of the reasons Liverpool struggled against the Seagulls.
At halftime, Gravenberch took over for the England Under-21 international, and while he didn’t contribute as much as Elliott, he did more.
He made 20 more passes overall, and he had a similar success percentage (75%). He also won four of his seven duels and completed all of his dribbles. Szoboszlai was able to shift back to the right side thanks to his off-the-bench outings, and the Reds looked much more evenly matched.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder missed the greatest opportunity of the second half for the Reds, but on another day, he would have buried the Szoboszlai cross and Liverpool would have brought all three points back to Anfield.
In the first half, Liverpool lacked physicality and didn’t seem to be able to break down the Brighton press. The Reds were no longer being physically intimidated after the arrival of Gravenberch, and the midfield appeared more muscular.
There’s no reason why Klopp couldn’t have started Szoboszlai on the right with Mac Allister on the left with Endo anchoring the midfield. It’s true that the Dutchman couldn’t have started the game following his performance in midweek. The first build-up phase is where you lose the Argentine’s skill, but since Alexander-Arnold is back in the first team, it isn’t a major problem.
On Sunday, it seemed as though Klopp had the correct plan but the wrong players to carry it out.