Ajax vs Liverpool: Five things we learned from the Champions League encounter

Ajax 0-1 Liverpool

Liverpool celebrate after taking the lead in Amsterdam (REUTERS)

Firmino’s link play remains invaluable

The accusation levelled by sage football pundit Tony Cascarnino this week was that Roberto Firmino had become a burden on his teammates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. The irrefutable reason was that Firmino is lacking goals – indeed the Brazilian has scored only once since the Premier League restarted back in June. But what Cascarino failed to point out was that, far from a burden, Firmino is the platform on which so much of his teammates’ good work is built.

Here he linked played wonderfully in the first half. When Andrew Robertson drilled the ball on to his toes, Firmino’s touch was magnetic, before feathering a pass into the path of Sadio Mane. On the hour, Jurgen Klopp brought off all three of his forwards to keep them fresh for the challenges to come, starting with Sheffield United at Anfield this weekend. Firmino may not get on the scoresheet there either, but he will almost certainly be the man that makes Liverpool tick in the final third.

Robertson more threatening than Alexander-Arnold

Ever since football restarted following lockdown, the stats have been pretty consistent when it comes to the different roles of Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Most notable has been Robertson’s volume of touches in the final third and touches in the opponents’ penalty area, both of which have been sky high and well clear of any other Premier League defender, including his fellow flying full-back on the other wing.

That tilt in the Liverpool team was particularly stark in Amsterdam. Robertson seemed to have boundless energy – even more so than usual – and his charging runs down the left were a constant menace to Ajax’s defence. Alexander-Arnold has tended to have the edge in attacking contributions between the two over the past couple of seasons, but with Roberston’s increasingly attacking role in addition to his new set-piece responsibilities, it looks like the Scot is the one who will provide the most for the front three this time around.

Klopp mixes it up

Jurgen Klopp has always been set in his tactical ways, sticking to the same grand plan with few perceptible tweaks from week to week. The only significant shift in recent times has been a defensive line that has crept higher and higher, infamously to breaking point at Villa Park where Aston Villa simply picked Liverpool off.

But here they retreated, at times right back to the edge of their own box instead of pushing out. Perhaps Klopp didn’t back a makeshift defensive unit to lay his precise offside trap, or perhaps he wanted to take some of the workload away from his midfielders and attackers, who have to press so intensely when the line behind them is dangerously high. Whatever the reason, it worked as Liverpool soaked up pressure and kept a clean sheet that will do no end of good to Adrian’s teetering confidence. It could well be the blueprint for more away matches to come. 

Fabinho is the new Van Dijk!

OK, maybe not, but the Brazilian’s clearance off the line just before half-time showed the instincts of an experienced defender, and suggested Klopp’s defensive crisis might not be so deep after all. Joel Matip is not expected to be out for long, while the young Rhys Williams is highly regarded at Anfield. With Fabinho as a kind of luxury passing option too, perhaps Klopp doesn’t need to rush out and buy a replacement for Virgil van Dijk just yet.

A chance to rest?

There may be five matches to go but it would be some shock now if Liverpool didn’t progress from this group. That in itself is great news for Klopp, and it means perhaps he can rest some of his stars in the rounds to come. In what is such a densely packed calendar, that is a luxury not every Premier League club will get to enjoy.