Liverpool v Bolton - Tactical Preview
Liverpool welcome Bolton to Anfield this Saturday afternoon in what should be an exciting, fast-paced Premier League encounter. It has proven difficult to predict Dalglish's line-ups this season, as he has chopped and changed his first-team to allow for injuries, lack of fitness and tactical tweaks. With only Raul Meireles, Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson carrying injuries, though, it seems likely that Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll will start up front, with Downing likely to retain his place on the left, and either Jordan Henderson or (more likely) Dirk Kuyt taking the wide-right berth. Charlie Adam and Lucas Leiva seem to be the first choice midfield pairing, and the back-five will surely be the one which kept a clean sheet at The Emirates last weekend.
Bolton, meanwhile, have started with the same XI in both their Premier League games so far (a 4-0 win away at QPR, and a 2-3 defeat to Man City), and there is no reason to believe that they'll change. Owen Coyle did use new signing Sanli Tuncay up front in Bolton's Carling Cup victory over Macclesfield on Wednesday night, but Ivan Klasnic and Kevin Davies will surely resume their fruitful striking partnership, as the Wanderers have scored more goals than any team bar Man City in this fledgling Premier League season.
We will probably see Liverpool's fluid 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1 take on Bolton's flatter, more robust 4-4-2:
This season, Luis Suarez has scored or created a goal on average every 30 minutes. He does seem to be pretty integral to Liverpool's play, whose attack stumbled somewhat in the closing 15 minutes against Sunderland after the Uruguayan had been substituted, and the Reds didn't break through Arsenal's makeshift defence until the introduction of Suarez with 20 minutes to go (although other factors, such as fitness, red cards and team strategy may have had something to do with this). Getting him regularly involved in Liverpool's attacking play, especially in dangerous positions, will be Dalglish's key aim and Coyle's key concern ahead of the match.
Liverpool do look well-placed to win the midfield battle though, which will be vital if they are to dominate this home game as they ought to. Bolton will be wary of the threat caused by leaving too much space between their midfield and defence, so Muamba and Reo-Coker might drop deep to congest the areas where Suarez could do most damage. However, this is where Charlie Adam's (and even Lucas Leiva's) excellent passing abilities come in handy, as Bolton will not want to afford Liverpool's central midfielders too much space with which to exert their influence on the game. Bolton's midfield will have to be extremely fit and tenacious to keep an eye on Suarez behind and Adam/Lucas in front.
As for the away side's attacking strategy: last season, Bolton averaged the fourth-lowest share of possession (46%) and the third-lowest pass-completion rate (67%) in the league. They also completed the fourth-highest number of long balls per game (73 on average, compared with Arsenal's 45). They remain, too, a strong, tall, physical team - last season they topped the tackling and fouling charts, with an average of 25 and 14 respectively per game. They were also the joint most successful at winning aerial duels (i.e. challenging for headers), along with Chelsea and Tottenham.
But, unlike the archetypal Bolton sides of old (those managed by Gary Megson and, yes, Sam Allardyce), Coyle's side has a great emphasis on assertive, positive defensive play, with pressing high up the pitch, rather than the passivity of sitting deep and narrow and waiting to win the ball back. They aren't entirely one-dimensional, and Coyle has received some deserved praise for introducing a more aesthetically pleasing brand of football to the Reebok.
But still Kevin Davies receives more passes-per-game than any other Bolton player (whereas for Liverpool this season it has been Charlie Adam), and with more elegant midfielders like Lee Chung-Yong and Stuart Holden out injured, Bolton's primary emphasis will be on functionality and directness. (For a more detailed discussion on Bolton's directness-or-otherwise, see @OmarChaudhuri's article:
http://wp.me/p1j6Sz-7b).
Daniel Agger will have to put in a strong, competitive performance to deal with the number of long-balls to Davies, who is an excellent target-man; but fortunately the Dane has won 80% of his aerial duels so far this season, so he should be up to the task.
Paul Spearritt (
http://bit.ly/ovQgM5- @PSpearro on Twitter) has also pointed out that Liverpool's forwards should look to close-down Gary Cahill, whose long-passing tends to be impressively accurate, so that the less technically-gifted Zat Knight will have the responsibility of playing the ball forward. Carroll's tackling and defensive work-rate is good, so this seems like a wise tactic for Dalglish to employ.
If you're nervous about the upcoming encounter, it's worth remembering that the Reds haven't lost at home to Bolton in nearly 60 years. Even Roy Hodgson managed to get 6 points from them last season. Provided Liverpool's defence fight a good aerial battle with Kevin Davies, and that they can get the ball to the feet of their creative players, they look set to record their first home win of the season.
http://www.lfconline.com/news/tmnw/liverpool_v_bolton__tactical_preview_697050/index.shtml
