How Liverpool’s makeshift front three can hurt Chelsea at Wembley

It was not a front three that Jurgen Klopp would have envisaged for the season’s first major cup final.

With Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez’s fitness still in doubt and Diogo Jota ruled out for “months” with a knee injury, Liverpool may line up with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

The 4-1 win over Luton Town — the first time the trio had started up front together — provided a preview of what this might look like, although it was a night that threw up as many questions as answers.

In the first 45 minutes, the trio were rushed, wasteful and ineffective. In the second half, they were the exact opposite. All three ended up on the scoresheet and contributed to the relentless waves of attacks that Luton were unable to stop.

“These boys needed to find the connection together,” said Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders. “It’s different if you play Mo (Salah), Darwin (Nunez) and Lucho (Diaz) or you play Lucho (Diaz), Cody (Gakpo) and Harvey (Elliott).

“I’m not saying (the difference is) quality but football is a team sport and it is about how they work together — and that takes time. You can do that on the training pitch (and in) the meetings, but the main thing is a game when it gets difficult and how they start interacting with each other. The most special thing of the night was how they grew (into the game).”

The opening 10 minutes against Luton suggested there had been no need to worry.

Luton operated in a man-marking system, so in an attempt to confuse the visitors and pull players out of their zones to create more space, Gakpo, Diaz and Elliott repeatedly rotated as shown in the examples below.

Diaz twice had the opportunity to give Liverpool the lead, both from direct balls.

The first chance saw Gakpo drop deep centrally and Elliott retain width on the right to create a big space behind Luton’s defence. Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher dropped the pass in behind for Diaz to run onto…

… but the forward hesitated in front of goal and lost possession…

One minute later, this time both Gakpo and Elliott dropped deep to create a one-on-one against the defender for Diaz.

The Colombian laid the ball off to Elliott and, with his two team-mates in front of him, he clipped a pass back into the path of Diaz.

However, the forward shot wide…

The flexibility of the trio was on show throughout the first half, as seen below…

… but Liverpool’s effectiveness wavered.

When the trio attempted to directly combine, it was much less effective. First, Elliott miscontrolled when played through on goal by Gakpo…

Then Diaz attempted to feed one of his team-mates, only for Gakpo to take too long to line up his shot…

Elliott bore the brunt of fan frustration, becoming increasingly wasteful as the half progressed. But it would have all felt very different had Diaz finished off the early move which involved a perfectly weighted clipped pass from Elliott.

One of Elliott’s best attributes is finding pockets of space to receive the ball and advance Liverpool up the pitch. And while he continued that against Luton, the disappointment came with his final ball.

When well-placed, he under-hit a pass when trying to play Diaz through…

… and then overhit a pass intended for the same team-mate later on.

The pair combined for nine shots, but only two were on target with Diaz (six shots) also proving wasteful in front of goal. Diaz was the (wayward) finisher and did not create a chance for his team-mates, while Gakpo created one and Elliott created four.

At half-time, Klopp told his players to delete the first half and start again. “We were in a rush,” he said. “Not in the build-up, we still found the right spaces, but in the final third. There were so many finishes that didn’t look great.

The second half was much improved: 14 shots, seven on target, four goals and a much more coherent attacking display.

A key reason was the reduced rotation between the front three, who retained their positions more consistently. Liverpool continued to go direct to overcome Luton’s man-marking but it provided more structure to their attacking play.

There was more help from elsewhere, particularly right-back Conor Bradley, who was more advanced in the second half.

Here, the three attackers — all located in their expected positions — create a good shooting opportunity. Diaz drove forward, Gakpo’s run created space centrally and Elliott had space to shoot from a lay-off…

But he dragged his shot wide on this occasion.

In another example, Elliott was released down the right, Diaz held the width and Gakpo made a near-post run…

And unlike in the first half, Elliott’s passing was accurate and Gakpo forced Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski into a save.

The influence of each was different. Gakpo was less involved in the build-up but acted as a focal point in the attack and had the most shots (six) in the second half and seven touches in the opposition box compared to one in the first half.

Elliott also had more touches in the second half (42) — in particular on his favoured right side — than in the first (34).

Diaz, meanwhile, saw the ball much less in the second 45 minutes compared to the first (20 touches to 38), although he still had three quality chances in the second half, scoring one of them.

The improved attacking numbers coincided with the three linking up less. While the trio combined for 16 passes in the first half, that decreased to seven in the second.

Crucially, they all finished on the scoresheet: a clinical header from Gakpo, some neat work and a fine finish from Diaz after a successful counter-press, and Elliott being in the right place at the right time after following play.

There were growing pains against Luton, but for a new attacking combination that was to be expected. The key was witnessing progress, and if this is the front three Klopp must call on this Sunday, at least he can do so knowing they will have learned some crucial lessons.