Aston Villa 0 Liverpool FC 2 [TACTICAL ANALYSIS]

Liverpool FC overcame Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park yesterday to move into a tied 5th place thanks to goals from Craig Bellamy and Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel. So, how did they do it?

Liverpool FC and the 4-2-3-1

A very popular formation with Kenny Dalglish, and one that worked for defending the lead. Interestingly, Liverpool FC’s shooting has been far more clinical in recent weeks. Liverpool FC’s shooting accuracy for the last 2 games is 51.7%; before that this season it was 38.5%.

Glen Johnson worked well on the right, with defensive duties very limited today and he managed to test ex-Liverpool FC defender Stephen Warnock on a number of occasions, despite the lack of a final product from the Englishman. His productivity on the right with Stewart Downing deserved more than what it got.

Shelvey played a free role yesterday, confined to defensive duties in front of the back 4 at times or playing high up alongside Luis Suarez yesterday and he had a number of chances to extend Liverpool FC’s lead, only to hit it straight at Guzan on a number of occasions.

Daniel Agger and Dominance

Daniel Agger moved up the pitch well yesterday, and played in a role very similar to that of a Steven Gerrard role, except slightly more defensive. Moved forward to find shots from long range and even timed his runs to perfection – this showed when he moved up the pitch and took a header crossed in from the left wing.

Perhaps he could be another option in the future, Daniel Agger playing in defensive midfielder, given his decent passing accuracy and good tackling. Another benefit could be his long shots and even his headers.

Liverpool FC didn’t dominate in terms of possession exactly, (Liverpool FC had 52% of the possession) but they did better when it came to territorial dominance. Their defence played as high as it could sensibly go and restricted the likes of Emile Heskey and Nathan Delfouneso from taking shots on the Liverpool FC goal. Liverpool also had relatively accurate passing yesterday, hitting 83% of their passes accurately.

Luis Suarez was his usual busy self, and he was very unlucky yesterday to not score, as he saw two of his efforts hit the post. First with a finesse shot from close range, the other being a delicate chip over Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan. The Uruguayan certainly deserved a goal for his efforts in front of goal.