Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool beat Genk 2-1 in the Champions League with Gini Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on target.
Genk coach Felice Mazzu was left wondering what might have been as the Belgian giants were narrowly beaten by Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night, telling Voetbal Primeur that he had changed his tactics in an attempt to catch Jurgen Klopp’s side cold.
The Reds have won ten of their last 11 games in all competitions but don’t mistake that for thinking that the champions of Europe have been at their barnstorming best in the last few weeks.
Liverpool were a million miles below their usual standards during a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and they were very fortunate to beat a well organised Sheffield United side at Bramall Lane too with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and co struggling against packed, five-man defences.
That trend did not pass Mazzu by with the under-fire coach admitting that he introduced a back five on Tuesday night in an attempt to keep Liverpool’s star-studded forward line at arms’ length.
It nearly worked too, before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s fourth goal in a fortnight sealed a nervy 2-1 win on Merseyside.
“In league games against Sheffield and Manchester United, we had noticed that Liverpool were struggling against a five-man defence, so we started the match with a similar plan,” Mazzu said.
“We could have grabbed a point, (Bryan) Heynen and (Joakim) Maehle were close (to scoring). We played an intelligent match.”
An insight into Mazzu’s tactical plans will surely not go unnoticed by Premier League managers hoping to become the first side to beat Liverpool in domestic competition this season.
Maybe Pep Guardiola, who usually springs a surprise in big games, will have a trick up his sleeve in the shape of a five-man defence in Sunday’s crunch clash between Manchester City and Liverpool.
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