Liverpool played with 4-3-3- line up.
Arsenal played with 3-4-3 line up but they usually wait in the set defence. So we can say they played with 5-2-3 line up.
In Liverpool, Keita and Wijnaldum used right and left half-spaces in the middle third. They tried to escape from Xhaka and Elneny. And Firmino came to the midfield to take the ball. So they had a numerical advantage in the midfield with 4 vs 3.
Arsenal pressed with balance to Liverpool in the midfield. They didn’t let Liverpool pass comfortably. Lacazette covered Fabinho, Xhaka covered Keita. Normally Elneny’s role was to cover Wijnaldum. But Wijnaldum’s position was in the left half-space so if Elneny covered Wijnaldum, this time Firmino could be free. So Willian closed to Wijnaldum and cover him. As a result they could provide numerical balance with 4 vs 4 in the midfield.
Aubameyang and Willian took position in the full backs and stoppers between. But they were more close to the stoppers. They didn’t let the stoppers pass comfortably. And of course because Willian covered Wijnaldum at the same time, he couldn’t get close to the opponent’s stoppers too much.
And when Willian couldn’t mark Van Dijk, Lacazette closed to Van Dijk if he took the ball. But this time Fabinho could be free. In this matter Xhaka closed to cover Fabinho immediately and they solved this problem.
In this position, Liverpool is trying to make game. Aubameyang is covering Gomez, Lacazette is covering Fabinho, Xhaka is covering Keita.
When Van Dijk takes the ball, Lacazette is pressing him and Xhaka is closing to Fabinho. Now Keita is free but nobody can pass him because Arsenal players covered him greatly.
As a result, Arsenal could defend very well and Liverpool couldn’t make game.
But when Keita closed to the right half-space, Liverpool had a numerical advantage in the right wing. Keita, Alexander-Arnold and Salah became 2 vs 3 against Maitland-Niles and Tierney. Also Alexander-Arnold could use right wing more effectively.
In this position, Alexander-Arnold has the ball. Alexander-Arnol is marking by Maitland-Niles and Salah is marking by Tierney. Keita is in the right half-space.
When Keita takes the ball, David Luiz can cover him quickly because Keita’s half-space position should have been a little bit closer to the right. But when Keita is covering by David Luiz, this time Firmino can find free space. Keita could pass him and at the end of the attack Liverpool could score.
They could use Keita but they couldn’t use Wijnaldum. Because Willian covered Wijnaldum and Arsenal solved this problem. But Aubameyang wasn’t close to Keita.
When Liverpool took the score, they gave the ball opponent more, they passed in the midfield’s back easily, tried to escape Salah and Mane the opponent’s behind with long balls and pressed aggressively in the forward line and didn’t let Arsenal make game. After 2-1, all the match continued like that. And second half Liverpool was more comfortable because Arsenal’s players were tired but they weren’t. Their physical superiority became more evident.
All the match Arsenal tried to make game from the defense line but they didn’t and it brought them more disadvantage than advantage. Liverpool could be more dangerous. But Arsenal could be better about making game from the defense line. Because it’s also about making practise in the training ground.
They couldn’t find a lot of goal positions. Because Liverpool could use their physical superiority. In this subject there aren’t many tactical things. When Liverpool was in the attack, 2 stoppers remained in the defense line and Fabinho remained their front. So Arsenal could become 3 vs 3 in the counter attacks but Fabinho and stoppers could cover Arsenal’s forward line very well. And also Liverpool’s players could come back to their own side before Arsenal’s players.