Back To 4-2-3-1 For Liverpool?

Swansea City face Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium next Monday night, and after using the diamond 4-3-3 system in the last three games, is it time for Garry Monk to revert back to 4-2-3-1 against the Reds?

Swansea City manager Garry Monk has recently changed to a diamond 4-3-3 system with varied success, with 2 wins and a defeat, but changing back to 4-2-3-1 should give us a better chance against a talented attacking side like Liverpool.

Brendan Rodgers now looks like he’s found a system that works at Anfield, a 3-4-3 that has given his side a good balance between defence and attack.

In previous systems with 4 at the back, the Reds were vulnerable at the back, but the use of attacking wing backs to allow them to drop back to make 5 in defence has been effective.

With Sturridge’s return, and the likes of Sterling and Coutinho, they have excellent attacking threat combined with Jordan Henderson who is proving to be a superb all-rounder.

The diamond against Spurs really struggled, particularly because of Spurs’ width and use of attacking full backs. Both Rose and Walker had acres of space to run into on the flanks, and with the pace they both possess, the Swansea’s full backs had a difficult time in limiting their threat.

The same could occur against Liverpool if the diamond is again used. It’s far too narrow and the likes of Moreno could have a field day. The wing back opened the scoring for the Reds when they beat us 4-1 at Anfield earlier on in the season, and the Swans simply cannot give him as much freedom as they did that night.

Sterling, on the other flank, will also give Neil Taylor a torrid time, even more so if he has no defensive support in the diamond.

The one positive thing about the diamond is how Swansea push players forward in the opposition’s half when they don’t have possession. In the 4231, they sit deeper with two lines of four, but recently at Spurs they sometimes had two lines of three in Spurs’ half as they looked to apply pressure further up the pitch.

This high pressure could work against Liverpool, but they’ll have to be wary of leaving space in between the lines, something that the likes of Coutinho and Henderson will love, having recently shown their shooting ability from distance.

There’s been issues with Swansea’s attacking play using both the diamond and the 4-2-3-1. The full backs haven’t offered width in the diamond, while the 4-2-3-1 has struggled when the wingers/full backs are marked out of games, as the middle of the pitch becomes crowded.

It’ll be another big tactical test for Garry Monk. He won it against Louis van Gaal by changing to the diamond and preventing his Manchester United side from dominating the middle of the pitch, but sticking with the diamond at Spurs proved to be a mistake.

It wasn’t until he switched back to 4-2-3-1 and brought on Montero that they looked threatening going forward. The winger is pushing for a start again after creating a goal and almost creating an equalising goal when Lloris brilliantly kept out Fernandez’s header.

LIVERPOOL’S LIKELY LINE-UP:



SWANSEA’S DIAMOND VS SPURS:



SWANSEA’S POSSIBLE 4-2-3-1:



Will Shelvey be dropped in favour of Montero and a switch back to 4231?

What line-up, formation should Garry Monk use next Monday against Liverpool?

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