No.3 – Mane & Salah Can’t Both Be Double-Teamed
The chief tactic of Pochettino against Liverpool has been to double up on the perceived biggest threat on the team. At Wembley last year Spurs lined up with Aurier and Trippier together to neutralize Sadio Mane. That tactic worked to an extent but opened up space for Mohamed Salah on the right.
It is strange to think back in October last year that the Egyptian wasn’t considered the chief threat. When the teams met at Anfield they shifted focus to Salah and had Moussa Dembele drop back to help Ben Davies and Davison Sanchez rein him in.
An early Salah goal forced them into that adjustment and that double team held him all the way to the 91st minute where he danced round them all to slot hope with a magical goal.
If they try and keep two guys on Salah on Saturday it will open up room for the in-form Sadio Mane. The Senegalese striker is in a great patch of form, scoring four times already this campaign.
If they somehow manage to neutralize the wide players then there will be acres of room on the big Wembley pitch for Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita in central positions. Speaking of Keita…