Tactical Breakdown: Can Everton have an Oscar-worthy performance in Mission Impossible?

Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are a dangerous duo who can cause problems to Everton

Salah looks to make dangerous inside runs, usually being overlapped by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool’s creative weapon who currently has seven assists and the second most big chances created, behind Salah, with eight.

Alexander-Arnold is a unique player, a footballer with the perfect skill set to play in midfield, who plays at full-back and has helped in the modernisation of full-backs in the English game, which has seen a position often seen as unnecessary in the past become one of the most important positions on the pitch.

Liverpool are a team that often use positional rotations, which can often be seen by that Liverpool right-hand side, where each player can rotate with each other, whether that’s Salah dropping more central for a Trent overlap, or for somebody like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain whose time as a winger at Arsenal makes him perfect on that right-hand side.

The Reds build up a lot through their full-backs, with Andy Robertson also a very impressive attacking full-back who could provide problems for Seamus Coleman. By distributing to their full-backs, it allows Liverpool’s wingers to attack through the central channels, using their pace and trickery to cause centre-backs trouble, often putting Liverpool in plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, which is highlighted by their enormous 2.65 xG per 90 minutes, comfortably the highest in the Premier League.

Liverpool’s main focus is to put their opponents to the sword with relentless pressure, forming defensive triangles which force the opponent to play the ball outside, often leading to the opposing team trying to restart back to the defence, which often sees players like Jota and Firmino putting pressure on the defenders in an attempt to win the ball back in dangerous positions.