Leicester City vs Liverpool: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis, Premier League 2018/19

#3 Liverpool were dire in midfield

Jordan Henderson allowed James Maddison too much space in midfield

Jurgen Klopp made a change to his starting XI for the first time this season, as he relegated Naby Keita to the bench to hand club captain Jordan Henderson his first start of the season. It was a move that didn't pay dividends as Liverpool looked disjointed throughout the game.

Gini Wijnaldum had done a stellar job as the deepest-lying midfielder in the first three games, but Henderson's inclusion meant he had to play further forward. It seemed to disrupt his rhythm as he couldn't impose himself on the game.

But the worst performance of the day came from Henderson, who did absolutely nothing that is expected of a deepest-lying midfield player. His passing was lazy and far too safe. And he never once helped set Liverpool on their way forward.

More importantly, he was all over the place in a defensive sense. Maddison, in the no.10 role for Leicester, was getting an immense amount of joy because he was afforded generous amount of space by Henderson.

The pockets of space that no.10s get so much joy in were not cut off once by Henderson, which caused them massive problems as soon as Leicester started attacking in the second half.

Henderson compounded his afternoon by playing a horrible pass to Van Dijk, leading eventually to the error that Alisson made. He was rightly substituted to be replaced by Keita, who brought the Reds more control of possession in the last 25 minutes.