Three key ways for Liverpool to move up the Premier League table

Liverpool these days have been in a bit of a pickle. They’ve had a lot of on field issues, which have resulted in them being tenth in the Premier League table. The team that was on the verge of winning the much-famed quadruple last season is on the ropes, struggling to even get into the Champions League spots this season.

They are still a few points away from entering the top four, they’re out of the Carabao Cup, they are out of the FA Cup, and although they are in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, the Reds are facing Real Madrid, the team that beat Liverpool in the final of the competition just seven months ago.

Let’s talk about the Premier League.  Judging by how close they were to winning the title last season, I wouldn’t consider this measly 10th place a success. Here are three key ways they can move up the table.

Liverpool need to have a lot more coverage for Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander Arnold is very important for Liverpool in so many ways. He’s obviously really important for their buildup play; The English fullback goes really high up the pitch and puts in really good crosses for his attackers. He does that a lot, so, many times, the midfielder on the right needs to cover for him. The midfielder on the right is usually Jordan Henderson, who hasn’t been at his best for a while now. So many of their issues stem from the third midfield spot, but even though they didn’t sign a midfielder in January, there are still ways for the team to cover for Trent.

If they start playing a 4-4-2, the wide midfielder on that side will inevitably have to cover for Trent on occasions. Alternatively, they can have Fabinho or Bajcetic act as a makeshift centre-back alongside Konate and Van Dijk more often so that there is less space for the opponents to pounce on.

Konate being a presence on the right centre-back position is huge itself, because as we saw in the Champions League final vs Real Madrid, he kept Vinicius at bay on many occasions, even when Trent was high up the pitch. But, then again, his fitness is what keeps this question up for everyone to wonder about. If they sign a midfielder with the correct profile, the problem will be sorted. However, if they don’t, there are still multiple ways of having Trent do his magic in the offense while having enough coverage for him on a counter-attacking situation.

Sergio Ramos did that for Real Madrid for as long as Marcelo was his left-back; all they need is a competent body in the back that helps the two centre-backs, or a system that allows Trent to go up without having to worry a lot about the space left behind.