Bold, attacking tactics from Conte and Klopp produced one of the games of the season – The Athletic

After close and cautious games between two teams using a similar formation, the two teams are often said to have “cancelled” each other.

There’s some merit to that phrase – in some matches, it feels like the systems match up too closely against each other. Neither team has an obvious advantage in any area of ​​the pitch, neither team has an obvious outside ball and neither has enough space to dictate the nature of the game.

Tottenham and Liverpool’s 2-2 draw yesterday felt like the polar opposite of that. It was an incredibly fast, end-to-end goal fest, the kind of game the Premier League builds its reputation on. A crucial factor was that sides used fully contrasting formations and were bold with the positioning of their key attacking weapons.

Antonio Conte used a 5-3-2 formation, with Dele Alli advancing from midfield, while Jurgen Klopp used his usual 4-3-3, and the tactical battle was best summed up by a move from play to the 18th minute.

When Liverpool pushed forward, Tottenham’s 5-3-2 – with Eric Dier having been dragged forward in midfield – was incredibly tight. Conte decided his wingers should fall back inside to help deal with Liverpool’s wide forwards, which largely proved effective as neither Sadio Mane nor