Brighton - taking the lessons from Villa Park into their clash with Liverpool

Following Brighton’s debacle at Villa Park they were presented with an opportunity to immediately right the ship by welcoming Liverpool to the Amex Stadium. Jurgen Klopp’s sides are well known for their high intensity heavy metal football, and with the game plan that Aston Villa adopted being so successful would Liverpool find joy by using the same approach.

Liverpool's setup

From the start of the match it was clear that Liverpool were following Villa’s blueprint. Initiating their press with a narrow triangle comprised of Salah, Nunez and Szoboszlai. Villa had a lot of success with this ( if you want to take a closer look at Villa’s approach you can check out this post), and Liverpool were right to adopt similar tactics given how effective they were. You have to verify if your opponents have actually learned from their past mistakes.

What adjustments did Brighton make post Villa

Brighton knew they were caught out in their last match, so naturally they made some adjustments in order to address the issues from the Villa match. The most notable changes were the inclusion of Igor in place of Webster and Gross, Baleba in place of Gilmour and Hinshelwood. The inclusion of Igor in the starting lineup meant that Dunk moved over to right center back. Villa had success in forcing Brighton into wide areas, and with Dunk not very strong off his left foot that meant when a forward pressed him towards the touchline he was limited in what he could do. Forward passes off his left foot are not one of Dunk’s strengths, and thus resulted in Brighton being limited in the build up phase.

What these changes allowed Brighton to do was alter the shape in their build up phase and create a back three that spread across the width of the pitch. Gross would drop in as an additional center back, allowing Dunk and Igor to get wide and expand the space that they were playing in to the benefit of Brighton. Firstly, Brighton adopting a more expansive posture meant that a press initiated by a narrow triangle could not be as effective as it had been in the previous game. Secondly, with both center backs playing on their natural sides if Liverpool were successful in shepherding Brighton into wide areas, Dunk and Igor could solve this situation by either dribbling up the field with the ball until another Liverpool player committed to them or look to play balls forward off their strong foot.

These adjustments proved very successful for Brighton in the first forty minutes of the match. However, two bad turnovers of possession in a five minute spell, similar to what happened against Villa meant that they went into the break 2 - 1 down. Despite Brighton’s adjustments Liverpool persevered with their pressing approach, and when they found success they found goals.

Brighton adjust again at half time

Despite their good work in the first half Brighton were losing again, and more disappointingly it was the same issues that were coming back to bite them. To start the second half Brighton adjusted their build up shape again by abandoning the tactic to have Gross serve as an auxiliary center back, instead moving him up the field into a more advanced 8 role and having Baleba operate as a lone 6. With Gross higher up the pitch Brighton had an extra player up the field that they could look to find in space with more direct passes. A player higher up the field for Brighton meant that Liverpool had to drop a player as well. Gross was dangerous in the second half picking up the ball in dangerous areas and Baleba shouldered the responsibility of the lone 6 with great maturity. Ultimately Brighton equalized and were rewarded with a share of the spoils.

At the end of the day a great game of football full of goals, big saves, missed chances and tactical adjustments. Brighton making consistent alterations from last game to this. Plenty to be learned from their approach, and we are just scratching the surface.