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Liverpool take on Tottenham Hotspur in an all-English UEFA Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday. Liverpool have won the trophy five times and were the runners-up last year. On the other hand, Tottenham are appearing in their first ever final.
Jurgen Klopp will try to be third time lucky after having lost two European finals as manager, in 2013 and 2018. Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, will look to achieve the seemingly impossible by winning the ultimate prize in club football with Tottenham.
Both the teams came back from the brink of elimination by overturning deficits in the semifinals. Liverpool thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield, while Tottenham beat Ajax 3-2 with three second half goals in Amsterdam.
Here, we take a look at the 3 crucial factors which might determine the outcome of the match:
#1 Liverpool’s full-backs providing width upfront
Liverpool’s fullbacks, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, make up for the lack of width upfront with their expeditious overlapping runs.
Both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s right and left wingers respectively, like to cut in from the flanks, and therefore, Liverpool lack width in the final third at times. Having two hard-working fullbacks means that they do not have to worry too much about having width upfront.
Alexander-Arnold was directly behind two Liverpool goals against Barcelona, and Robertson had a stellar first half before leaving the field owing to an injury.
Liverpool would again depend upon their crosses in the final against Tottenham. Both Robertson and Alexnader-Arnold cross very well, and they could play a crucial part in creating moves in the attack.
Tottenham’s wing-backs tend to leave a lot of space behind while going into attacks, and Liverpool’s full-backs might exploit that space, and also stretch Tottenham’s back three in the process.
2. Liverpool’s front three employing the high-press on Tottenham’s defence
Liverpool play with a 4-3-3 formation, and Tottenham operates with a 3-5-2. Therefore, it is going to be a direct battle between Liverpool’s three forwards and Tottenham’s three central defenders. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane can be a handful for any defence in the world, and Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Sanchez would have their task cut out.
Moreover, the Tottenham defenders might not have an easy time with the ball on their feet, as Liverpool are likely to employ the high-press against them. The situation might worsen if Jordan Henderson joins the front three in pressing the Tottenham defenders, as he did against Barcelona at times.
Tottenham do not have any creative player apart from Christian Eriksen in their midfield, and therefore the onus would be on their centre-backs to start attacks from inside their own half. Liverpool’s relentless pressing might make life difficult for Tottenham’s defenders as the latter try to create moves for their forwards.
#3 Tottenham’s pacy forwards testing Liverpool’s defence
Tottenham have some speedy forwards like Son Heung-Min and Lucas Moura at their disposal. Son has scored 20 goals this season and Moura scored an astonishing hat-trick against Ajax in the semifinal. Both of them are really fast, and might test the agility of the Liverpool defenders.
Moura stunned the Ajax defence with his sudden bursts inside the opposition half in the semifinal in Amsterdam. He might look to repeat the act in the final in Madrid, and the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip would have to be careful about that. They can't afford to leave Moura with too much pace in their own half.
Son is also renowned for his speedy and solo runs, and the likes of Eriksen would try to provide him with opportunistic through balls. Fabinho would have to keep an eye on Eriksen, and prevent him from delivering quality passes to the forwards.
The Tottenham forward line could prove to be deceptively clinical in the final, and Liverpool cannot afford to play a high line too often.
