Player Positions Liverpool Needs to Beat Man City at Home

Woke up this morning still buzzing about Sunday’s match against Man City. Grabbed my coffee and immediately started scribbling notes all over my kitchen table. Needed to figure out how we actually get three points at Anfield, you know?

The Starting Point: Where We’re Leaking

First thing I did was rewatch highlights from last season’s home game. Really sat there pausing and rewinding like a madman. Kept noticing one huge problem: when City hit us on the break, our right side completely collapsed. Trent was trying to be everywhere at once – overlapping, crossing, then sprinting back. Just not humanly possible against Grealish or Foden.

So I fired up Football Manager. Yeah, serious vibes today. Loaded my latest Liverpool save – currently top by two points, fitting. Simulated the game against City four times using my usual tactic. Lost three, drew one. Felt brutal.

• First simulation: Got absolutely roasted down the right. Their winger just ghosted past Trent like he wasn’t there. Ended 3-1 City.

Second try: Pushed Trent into midfield like they did sometimes last season. Better defensively, but Robbo on the left looked completely lost covering the whole flank alone. Lost 2-0.

• Third run: Tried a flat back four. Boring as hell, and Rodri just dominated the middle. Salah got isolated. 1-1 draw.
• Last shot: Went full chaos mode – high line, gegenpress. Conceded in the 9th minute off a stupid long ball over the top. Typical.

The Fix? More Legs in Midfield

This is where I actually spilled coffee on my notebook. Got excited. Remembered the old Liverpool under Rafa – remember Mascerano covering every blade of grass? We need that energy again badly. Szoboszlai’s great going forward but sometimes he forgets to track back. Against City, that’s suicide.

So I made three big changes:

• Play Endo AND Gravenberch together. Double pivot. Endo sits deep, breaks things up like a mad dog. Grav uses his long legs to shuttle the ball forward quick.
• Tuck Salah in way tighter. Almost like a second striker. Forces him to actually help Trent when City counter. No more waiting for service out wide.
• Trent roams midfield ONLY IF Bradley plays right back. Kid looked sharp against Luton, hungry. Perfect for shutting down that flank defensively while Trent does his thing.

Ran this version five times. Won three, drew two. Massive difference! Suddenly we were winning the ball in their half constantly. The double pivot cut off those killer passes to Haaland like a brick wall.

The Personal Lightbulb Moment

Watching one simulation, Alvarez threaded this stupid pass past Van Dijk – nearly a goal. Instantly flashed back to that awful game last year where Gakpo played false nine. Remembered tracking Alvarez that match? Ran myself ragged chasing shadows. My legs were jelly afterwards. Exactly why you can’t just throw attackers out there thinking they’ll press properly without structure.

The secret sauce isn’t new signings. It’s squeezing every ounce of defensive discipline out of what we have right now. Especially those midfielders who only want to do the fancy stuff.

So yeah. Wrote all this down feeling like a tactical genius. Probably just over-caffeinated.

Might need a nap before the game Sunday. But at least now I know – win the battle in that middle third with sheer numbers, or we lose. Simple as that.