THE greatest show on Earth is back this weekend and the stand-out fixture is between two teams who under-performed last time out – Chelsea vs Liverpool.
Both have been active in the transfer market, both in terms of buying and selling, with key positions now occupied by exciting young talent.
New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino faces a baptism of fire against Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp
How the new-look Chelsea team could line up
Liverpool will unveil their new midfield against Chelsea
Former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino returns to England to lead a young and dynamic Chelsea squad in West London.
Chelsea have continued to spend significant sums in the transfer market with their new(ish) owners determined to invest in a squad that is capable of competing towards the top of the Premier League table.
Such is the ferocious level of competition at Premier League level that failure to win the first match of the season will be seen by fans as a disaster.
The pressure is sure to be on for both sides this coming weekend but what can we expect to see from a tactical perspective?
New look to Chelsea’s attack
For all of the considerable transfer spending at Chelsea last season there were still huge questions about the team’s attack.
With Kai Havertz having departed Stamford Bridge to move across London to join Arsenal and with the returning Romelu Lukaku unlikely to feature as he angles for a move back to Italy, we saw Chelsea enter pre-season with uncertainty at this position.
There was a feeling that Christopher Nkunku, newly signed from the German side RB Leipzig, would fill the role as the first-choice No 9.
This would not necessarily, however, have played to the French international’s strength as he prefers a more free-roaming role with the ability to drop into the midfield or move wide.
With Nkunku having suffered a serious injury in pre-season, however, a new solution was needed.
That solution has emerged in the 22-year-old Senegalese international Nicolas Jackson.
The rangy forward was signed this summer from Villarreal for a fee reported to be in the region of £37million and so far he has caught the eye of Chelsea fans.
Jackson has shown the ability to drop deeper to receive the ball but when doing so he likes to get turned to drive forward. His ability to carry the ball at speed is combined with great technical ability.
Nicolas Jackson has looked impressive for Chelsea during pre-season
With Pochettino likely to favour a three-man attack it is almost certain that Jackson will start as the lone central striker against Liverpool this coming weekend.
While Liverpool have two of the most physically capable central defenders in the Premier League, in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, the Senegalese forward could prove to be a difficult opponent given his direct nature and 1v1 ability.
The new season, and the presence of a new coach at Chelsea, will also see some players given another chance to establish themselves at Stamford Bridge.
Ukrainian international Mykhailo Mudryk could feature on the left side of the attack.
While Mudryk did not impress last season, following his big-money transfer, he may prove to be a perfect addition to the high-temp attack that Pochettino is known to favour.
Jackson also has the pace to threaten the space behind the opposition defence and to take advantage of any team who are looking to play in a high line. Here, we see Jackson timing a forward run to stay onside as the ball is released.
If Chelsea can add a more potent attack to their strong defence and creative midfield then they may be in a position to threaten Liverpool this weekend.
Composure in the Chelsea defence
When this Liverpool side were at their peak under Jurgen Klopp one of the key tactical features of their game was their ferocious pressing game.
Led by the front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane we saw Liverpool consistently look to press and win the ball back as close to the opposition goal as possible.
Last season, with the signing of the Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo, there was the beginnings of a move back towards this high-intensity style, especially in the second half of the Premier League season.
Chelsea, however, have the ability to combat this press with the re-introduction of the England U21 international central defender Levi Colwill.
Colwill will regularly pause with his foot on the ball. This is a deliberate move that is designed to pull opposition players towards the ball, so he can then pass around theml.
Colwill has spent the last two seasons out on loan, first in the Championship with Huddersfield and then in the Premier League with the impressive Brighton.
He has developed into one of the most composed and capable ball-playing defenders in the league.
At Brighton, under Roberto De Zerbi, we would routinely see Colwill pause in possession in order to pull the opposition pressure towards the ball so that space would open in the midfield that could be played into.
Against Liverpool, expect to see Colwill use a similar strategy in order to pull the Liverpool front three towards the ball.
While the young English player is comfortable in this role he is likely to be partnered with the vastly experienced Brazilian international Thiago Silva who is less comfortable drawing pressure and playing through.
Even when boxed in and pressed Colwill will show composure on the ball and the ability to break lines with his creative passing into midfield.
With the capacity of Colwill to bait and then beat the Liverpool press there will be huge pressure on what will be a new-look Liverpool midfield to deal with the threat of the likes of Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentinian World Cup winner will thrive in the space and time that Colwill’s ability to play out from the back will give him.
Liverpool’s new-look midfield and Trent Alexander-Arnold
One of the biggest tactical changes made by Klopp was the introduction of a box midfield.
Last season Trent Alexander-Arnold would often move inside from right-back when Liverpool were in possession to the same line as the deepest midfielder for Liverpool, typically Fabinho.
This summer, however, has seen the restructuring of the Liverpool midfield with the long-serving pair of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson both leaving the club for the riches of Saudi Arabia.
In their place we now have Alexis Mac Allister, from Brighton, and Dominik Szoboszlai, from RB Leipzig.
As Liverpool build the attack Alexander-Arnold has moved into the deepest midfield position to receive the ball from one central defender, Van Dijk, and then spin the ball back out to the other side, to Konate. In making this central movement Liverpool are essentially leaving the right-back slot completely open
While there are still rumours that Liverpool will be active in the transfer market in order to sign another deep-lying midfielder it is likely that we will either see Jurgen Klopp opt to start Curtis Jones in that role or move Alexis Mac Allister back to play as the ‘6’.
In possession though it is likely that we will see Alexander-Arnold moving inside to continue to form that box midfield.
This will on one hand give Liverpool more stability if Chelsea look to build from the back with passes into the midfield but it will also offer Chelsea an opportunity if they are able to play quick direct passes out to the wing to release the likes of Mudryk in space.
Liverpool are able to defend this threat to an extent because the right-sided central defender Ibrahima Konate is very good at reading the game and he is comfortable when defending 1v1 on the outside.
Liverpool play with a midfield box and with Alexander-Arnold in possession he has the ability to play the through ball to find the free man in the advanced midfield positions
In this match, one of the key battles is likely to take place in the midfield zone where Liverpool have the potential to gain a numerical advantage by moving Alexander-Arnold in to create a 4v3.
Can Liverpool continually do this, however, without Chelsea taking advantage of the space created by Liverpool not playing with a traditional right-back?
What all this means?
The first game of the season is always something of an unknown tactically.
We are likely to see Chelsea in something like a 4-2-3-1 shape with Nicolas Jackson playing as the lone striker and Chelsea looking to release him behind Liverpool’s high defensive line.
Liverpool on the other hand will try to build through the centre with their wingers trying to get 1v1 on the outside.
This match is likely to come down to which side can take advantage of the space that the other side gives them with quick counterattacks.
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