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
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