Liverpool Tactics: 5 Options for Brendan Rodgers to Consider vs. Manchester City

Liverpool's first league game under Brendan Rodgers did not go quite as planned as the Reds ended up on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat, with Daniel Agger sent off to boot.

The first hour of the game suggests that there was not particularly a lot wrong with the system Rodgers sent his team out with, though there is still plenty of work to be done for the players to understand their new tactical roles entirely.

With Daniel Agger suspended for the next Premier League match against Manchester City, no new additions since the first fixture and the immediate futures of several players at the club unresolved, Rodgers might need to tweak one or two aspects of Liverpool's formation.

Here are five options for Rodgers to consider without going outside the basic framework of a 4-3-3 too much, as Liverpool aim to pick up their first points of the season against the reigning champions.

Replacement for Daniel Agger: Jamie Carragher or Sebastian Coates?

A shoddy refereeing decision from Phil Dowd in the West Brom vs. Liverpool match—one of several made in the course of the game—saw Daniel Agger sent off, a penalty awarded (eventually missed) and the effective end of Liverpool's attempt to get back into the game.

With Agger sitting out his one-game suspension, Brendan Rodgers will have to decide on whether to start veteran Jamie Carragher or the unproven Seb Coates.

With Carragher on the bench versus West Brom, it seems more likely that he will be promoted to first team duty. But he was way off the pace after coming on and one wonders whether he can raise his game enough at this stage of the season, with not much action behind him in several months, against a striker like Carlos Tevez.

It may indeed be that both these two centre backs take part in the fixture, with one replacing the other.

Playing Luis Suarez in the Right-Sided Forward Role

A move that some fans are keen to see implemented, switching Luis Suarez to the right side of the front three would free up the centre forward's role for an additional attacker, and would remove Suarez from the burden of trying to score all the chances that fall Liverpool's way.

Depending on your point of view from then on, either Andy Carroll could come into the side or else the Reds would be hoping to sign somebody else before the weekend fixture.

The other option would be to play Fabio Borini at centre forward, simply switching him with Suarez and leaving Stewart Downing to continue on the right side.

Playing Steven Gerrard as Part of the Front Three to Shore Up Midfield

Ball retention is key for Brendan Rodgers and his Liverpool tactics, and the three central midfielders above all else must adhere to that way of playing.

Against West Brom, the trio in the middle for the Reds were Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Steven Gerrard.

Lucas ran up a 93 percent pass completion rate, Allen an almighty 96 percent and Gerrard languished well behind with only 82 percent, that's 46 of his 56 passes finding a teammate.

Until the Liverpool captain can come to terms with a more patient, accurate and well-established build-up, it might be wise to move him into a more advanced position. Playing on the right of a front three would help Liverpool's presence in the box and would certainly give the Reds an additional goal-scoring threat.

Leaving an additional midfield spot free, Jonjo Shelvey or Jordan Henderson could take Gerrard's place, giving more stability and a greater chance of retaining possession.

Stats from EPLindex.com

Prevent the Full-Backs from Attacking

Manchester City have a multi-pronged attack with two forwards and two wide attacking midfielders all offering a real, proven and consistent goal threat.

David Silva and Samir Nasri will likely play in the wide midfield roles against Liverpool. The two City wide players will cut infield at every opportunity to create chances centrally and look to get involved inside the area and just outside of it.

To combat this threat, Liverpool might want to—or might be forced to—leave their full-backs to simply defend for this game, or at least a portion of it.

Narrowing the back line forces City to play in front of the penalty area where the back four hold the line, and in so doing reduces the space that they have to create chances.

With Lucas and Allen working hard in front of them, Liverpool have a chance of shutting out the Citizens entirely.

Switch to a 3-4-3

A very slight but distinctive switch, a 3-4-3 instead of a 4-3-3 does the complete opposite of the previous slide's option and frees up the full-backs to attack as much as possible.

Liverpool, when in possession at the back, tend to drop the defensive midfielder (Lucas) back between the two centre backs, who then split either side and allow the full-backs to push on.

Further up the pitch with the ball, Lucas would rove further forward to a point around 10 meters inside the opposition half, with the full-backs having to retain awareness of any turnover of possession to be able to get back to their defensive positions.

Playing a true three at the back provides the additional cover at the back to allow the wing-backs to push on as much as possible, but of course means the Reds have one player less in midfield.

Going two vs. two in the centre against Manchester City isn't the worst idea if Liverpool have possession, as Allen and Lucas could hold their own and more against Yaya Toure and Jack Rodwell, but without it they could be undone by the power and movement of the City duo.

It does also mean that one of the centre backs can push on into midfield at pace, providing an overload in the middle very quickly, with Martin Skrtel and Sebastian Coates both capable of doing that job, although Agger is the best at it, and he will be missing.

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