tough task
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness explains how he’d try to beat Jurgen Klopp’s men ahead of new season
Having finished 18 points clear at the top of the table, many rival fans will fear the Premier League title will go to Liverpool again.
But a guide for rival teams on how to beat them has come from an unlikely source - Reds legend Graeme Souness.
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Souness, who played for Liverpool for six years before managing them for three years, has understandably developed a huge affinity for the club.
He's waxed lyrical about Jurgen Klopp's side, who delivered the league title that no other Liverpool side could manage over the last 30 years.
However, Souness believes that there is a way for them to be beaten.
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He wrote in his column for : "The first thing you have to do is match their work ethic.
"At the end of the game, you might be talking about something that Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane has done or perhaps Virgil van Dijk or one of the full backs, but the first thing is to work harder than the guys you are up against, and all of them do that.
"It is no coincidence that the teams who beat them before coronavirus halted the season, Napoli and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and Nigel Pearson’s Watford in the top flight, were prepared to put a proper shift in. Last season, Liverpool were the best team in the league, but also the side everyone least enjoyed playing against.
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"The next thing you have to be prepared to do is take their midfield on in a physical encounter. They want to bully you, so you have to stand up to them.
"That has to be your starting point because they steamroller teams and you are for ever in a physical battle, whether it’s with Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, James Milner or Fabinho. You have to meet that challenge head-on and then, when you get the ball, you have to keep it under pressure, as Atletico did. You have to be technically good enough to keep possession when they come after you in midfield.
"Liverpool rely on their full backs for creativity. If there is such a thing as a false full back, then Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are it because they are really extra midfield players, so you have to stop them getting over the halfway line and delivering assists.
"They have the same energy in the 90th minute as in the first five and it is generally an attack-minded midfielder they are playing against, who doesn’t enjoy the hard yards of running back towards his own goal.
"I would be tempted to try a more defensive-minded, hard-working player there against them.
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"The Liverpool teams I played in never had wingers, with the exception of Steve Heighway; the rest were wide midfield players, who worked their socks off because we had no passengers when we didn’t have the ball.
"If you can limit the supply and influence of Alexander-Arnold and Robertson, it is a good starting point to stopping them.
"I would also be selective in possession if I were playing against Liverpool. I would not be rolling it out to my two full backs from the first minute. Instead, I would try to plant a seed that I’m not going to do that all of the time because they thrive on closing you down and do it so well. Mix it up.
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"Certainly, do not kick the ball long at Van Dijk’s head because you know it will come straight back at you, or he will bring it down and play. So maybe aim it at or in behind Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.
"Create a bit of doubt, so they don’t know from the start that they can steal the ball from you in your defensive third.
"If you remember the first game of last season at Anfield, Norwich City had a lot of the ball and looked nice on the eye, but what was the score at the end? 4-1. If you said to Liverpool, what do you want from Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United on Saturday, Klopp would want them to play out from the back because that plays to their strengths.
"You only have to create that element of doubt, to make some space to get your passes away. If they feel they can come after you from the first minute, you are in trouble.
"You have to get them to step back a yard and all of a sudden you can make your passes, but you also have to be a good team technically to do that.
"If you keep giving it away cheaply, the clock is ticking and it is only a matter of time before they punish you."
Liverpool kick-off their title defence as they welcome Leeds to Anfield on Saturday, a game you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT, kick-off 5:30pm.
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