Liverpool vs. QPR: Tactical Preview of Premier League Game
Liverpool host Queens Park Rangers on Saturday in a Premier League game that means an awful lot more to the latter than it does to the former. The Rs are in the thick of a desperate relegation battle, and will be hoping the hosts experience an end-of-season decline to their play in order to boost their chances of stealing some points.
Liverpool News
For the last three league games, Liverpool have played a 4-3-3. With Daniel Sturridge out and unlikely to play again this season, Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli have been sharing the role in an attempt to get the Reds going.
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The back four of late has been Emre Can at right-back, Glen Johnson at left-back and Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel in central defence. Steven Gerrard should line up the deepest in a midfield three at Anfield this weekend, with Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho around him.
Jordon Ibe, back from injury, looks set to become a permanent fixture and should start on the right, while Adam Lallana looks likely to flank Sterling from the left.
Queens Park Rangers News
For QPR it should be 4-4-2—the formation that gave Liverpool an awful lot of issues earlier this season at Loftus Road. Charlie Austin and Bobby Zamora should continue in their traditional, dangerous strike partnership.
Richard Dunne impressed on his return to the XI last week and helped earn a clean sheet, while Yun Suk Young and Mauricio Isla could line up in the full-back positions.
Leroy Fer came off the bench last week to make his long-awaited return from injury and could start from the left here in place of Karl Henry. The latter has done well out of position and should be commended, but QPR need offensive weapons on the pitch in order to win points.
Key Point 1: Which kind of 4-3-3?
Liverpool's 4-3-3 formation against Hull City and Newcastle United have taken two exceptionally different shapes. The former was a complete failure with Balotelli up front on his own, while the latter was a roaring success due to utilisation of Philippe Coutinho as a false nine.
Fitness permitting, Reds fans will be praying Brendan Rodgers goes back to playing Coutinho up front and allowing him to drop in and cause confusion. That performance against the Magpies was as good as he's ever given, and the team seemed to naturally understand the system in place.
It used Raheem Sterling wide left and Ibe wide right—the perfect combination of speed, trickery, and, critically, natural width. Ibe stretched the pitch on brilliantly, as Karl Matchett explains over at This Is Anfield, and allowed Coutinho to drop into space, drag markers with him and open holes for others to surge into.
It's more likely we see a traditional 4-3-3 look this weekend, but that false-nine system deserves talking about and will be wished for by a fair few.
Key Point 2: Traditional QPR
QPR and Chris Ramsey are almost the complete opposite to Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers; they play it straight-up 4-4-2 with a very traditional approach.
They love to go long to Zamora and allow Austin to feed off him, making runs in behind and buzzing around just in front. Austin can fashion chances from anywhere, and his crisp, clean strike makes him a snap-shot threat anywhere inside 30 yards.
They also like going to Matt Phillips, who has emerged as a key player during the run-in and a favourite of Ramsey's. His directness on the right flank and clear end-product (Jesus Navas would be jealous) make him a problem area for Liverpool; Johnson would struggle pace-wise, and Alberto Moreno would struggle positionally.
Expect Liverpool to boast more of the ball and to create more chances, but just as we saw with Leicester City vs. Chelsea midweek, imprecise, direct attacks can be killers—even to the top teams.
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