Liverpool are having a miraculous season this campaign, exceeding all expectations and goals set at the beginning of the year. But their title hopes were rocked when they suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea last Sunday. All of a sudden, the title race is wide open once more. So what lies in between Liverpool and the club’s first Premier League title in 24 years?
There are two fixtures left in Liverpool’s season, a trip to Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace, and the season ending match against Newcastle at Anfield. Looking at these two fixtures, many optimists would say that Liverpool have an easy six points to snatch, and so long as City can at least draw at Goodison Park, the title could very well still be in Liverpool’s hands. While this may happen, pulling these next six points will not be as simple as face value makes it out to be. Specifically, the next match at Crystal Palace represents a significant threat to Liverpool’s title hopes. The reason I say this is because the side is very likely to employ a tactical strategy similar to the one Jose Mourinho used against Liverpool to stifle them at Anfield (aka parking the bus).
There are a few reasons why I state this.
The first reason is that Crystal Palace have essentially escaped relegation, and a draw at this stage against a title chasing Liverpool side would be more than enough for Palace to walk away satisfied. Liverpool are facing a side that have nothing left to prove, and simply parking the bus would be an expected tactic against Liverpool’s possession style of play.
The second reason is contingent on the previous result against Chelsea. Mourinho’s side are the first team to have beaten Liverpool in 2014, and they are the first side to win at Anfield since the match against Southampton on September 21st. Parking the bus and playing with a compact defence seems enticing in this sense, especially since Chelsea were able to limit the prolific trio of Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge (among the rest of the team) and achieve a rare clean sheet at Anfield.
The final reason, and the most poignant, is that Crystal Palace have been employing a highly defensive system since manager Tony Pulis took over in November, and have achieved results against top sides in the process. Under Pulis, Crystal Palace have developed a relatively new reputation in using a rock solid defence to stifle opposing attack. Pulis’ game-plan has been to lay deep, exploit the opposing team’s gaffes, and capitalize on the counter. This will come as uncomfortable news to a Liverpool team who struggled (and lost) against this style just a week prior.
When Palace lost at the Etihad in December, Manuel Pellegrini was visibly frustrated with their tactics, and had criticized Palace’s deeply defensive style, as the Eagles became the first Premier League team to limit Manchester City to one goal at the Etihad in the season. Even though the home side won, the post match statements made by Pellegrini were very similar to those made by Rodgers after the Chelsea match.
Pellegrini stated: “Just one team wanted to play the 90 minutes and one team wanted to stay in their own goal…it is very difficult when one team wants to play and the other team does not want to play.”
Against Chelsea, Palace pulled results by using similar tactics. Palace’s formation against Chelsea affirms that, with Pulis using a 4-4-1-1 with the midfield lying deep, with Joe Ledley acting as the supporter for Cameron Jerome up front. In this match, Chelsea needed to pull a result, so they had to push forward and attack. Mourinho subsequently used his 4-3-3 formation, and the team attempted to get on the scoresheet, but to no avail. Chelsea were not able to crack Pulis’ carefully crafted defence. Of course Liverpool’s attack is much more potent than Chelsea’s, but when a team can limit Manchester City to one goal at home, their defensive performance warrants attention.
This next match will be a test for Rodgers and his team, not only in terms of the ability to bounce back from a massive loss, but the ability to learn from that loss and make tactical adaptations . Next week’s match will hold redemptive potential, and while it may not be against Mourinho’s Chelsea, a convincing win against a Palace team who will probably mirror Chelsea’s “two parked buses” tactic could give Liverpool a major psychological boost to close out the season strongly.
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