Slot Sufficient or Maresca Masterclass? A fascinating battle with tactical contrasts that made for a brilliant game. With his central build-up play, Maresca comes out with credit, but did Slot have him exactly where he wanted? 🧵Thread

Chelsea built with a 3-2-2-3 formation as Gusto joined Palmer on the attacking midfield line. The double pivot of Lavia and Caicedo looked to link play with the three defenders to progress.

Sanchez would join to make a back 4, but the strategy remained unchanged. Chelsea want to build through the centre of the pitch.

Liverpool set up with a +1 on the defensive line. They encouraged Chelsea's central build-up and didn’t press high. Jota and Szoboszlai shadow-marked Caicedo and Lavia, while Jones and Gravenberch took care of Palmer and Gusto. Liverpool wanted Chelsea to play centrally.

Why did they encourage the central build-up? This is where both managers can claim success in their strategy. Liverpool won the ball back in the central areas and immediately had the transition threat. Winning the ball centrally creates a huge transition threat.

The set-up of Liverpool put them into central attacking transitions and 4v3 situations.

On this occasion, Chelsea play through to Jackson. Liverpool come alive as soon as this pass is played. They are aggressive and create the 4v3 transition again.

In a recent interview with @Carra23 for @SkyFootball Slot explained his risk against reward strategy. "Liverpool used every moment they could to play the ball in behind [before]. "That meant that the game was sometimes a bit open, especially in the last period of Jurgen. Sometimes I tell the players to get a better judgement in risk and reward.

And you can see this in his team's possession play. Liverpool took away any transition threat in their possession game. They enticed Chelsea’s man-to-man out-of-possession strategy. They then went long. Chelsea were man-to-man on the defensive line.

Long ball = no Chelsea transition threat and Liverpool threat on Chelsea defensive line. This long pass sequence leads to the winning of the Liverpool penalty.

The low-risk Liverpool build-up is a huge part of their defensive record. Liverpool don’t risk build up play through the centre of the pitch. Instead, their midfield players shift to wide positions.

Even if Liverpool lose possession in the wide areas, they move quickly to cover central counter-attacking positions. Wide transitions are more difficult positions to create opportuities than central transitions.

In complete contrast to Chelsea, Liverpool did not look to progress or build through the centre of the pitch.

The shorter build to progress was through Jones in a wide-left position. Less reward, less risk and no Chelsea counter-attacking threat.

Animations on the Liverpool build

Maresca will go away happy with certain aspects of his team’s play. They created opportunities with simple passes through the centre of pitch. Caicedo and Lavia were excellent throughout. Lavia was missed when he went off. Jackson was off-target here.

But he was clinical with a very similar pattern to get the Chelsea equaliser. Van Dijk and Konate will be disappointed as they have a 2v1, but the run is excellent.

Chelsea’s insistence on playing through the centre sometimes provided more risk than reward. In this instance, Lavia works well to escape a potentially dangerous situation.

But finds little progress as Liverpool maintains its defensive structure while being able to press and create potential transition moments.

Indeed, Slot has gone against the aggressive pressing that top teams are implementing. He wants to keep his defensive structure secure. Robertson and Trent are happy to stay in their space rather than press high up the pitch.

This asks a lot of Salah and Gakpo in this game. But the shift they put in means the defenders are asked fewer questions. How often have you seen Konate covering the space behind Trent in previous years? Not in this set-up

And with this wide defensive play, Liverpool force the ball back and then wins the ball where they want to win it. Central areas and are ready to capitalise on the transition from here.

Chelsea are a good side though. While wanting to build through the centre, Maresca also ensures his wide players get 1v1 situations. Madueke was direct on one side. Sancho could have been better on the opposite side.

Liverpool, because of their structure, are comfortable defending the box. They fill critical areas with Van Dijk, never leaving the front zone, and Gravenberch is positioned for any pullbacks.

Liverpool saw the game out comfortably. They retreated slightly to protect rather than press in central areas, with Chelsea struggling for progressive options as Jones and Gravenberch covered the half-spaces.