Defensive frailties aside, Liverpool are still an extremely dangerous proposition for Huddersfield this weekend, especially with the Anfield crowd behind them. Town only know too well themselves how dangerous Tottenham can be when they feel like it, so they can't read too much in to that result, despite the Liverpool defence clearly suffering from fairly severe frailties at present.
Having invested so heavily in to their attack and built the type of forward line that are hard to pin down and keep quiet, that's clearly their strong suit. The type of side who need to score heavily because they're always likely to concede, Klopp clearly prioritises what his side does around their opponents goal more than they do protecting their own - that, for what it's worth, is the main difference between his approach to organising his side and David Wagner's.
A side who're somewhat divided given how well they attack and how poorly they defend, Huddersfield should be prepared at both ends of the field. As the more cohesive side of the two and definitely the more settled team, should they co-ordinate themselves properly, there's no reason why a result would be beyond them.
- Tommy Smith vs Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho is an excellent player, but does suffer from patchy form. Clearly loved and rated at his club, there's a lot of people who'd have seen £150m on the table for him from Barcelona and bitten their hands clean off, but the Merseyside giants decided retaining face and pride was more important than good business. Playing from the left under Klopp, he's afforded a fairly free role to float and roam as he pleases, which does make him harder to mark and track.
Tommy Smith has been excellent so far this season, and showed his ability against pace and trickery by shutting down both Anthony Martial and Antonio Valencia last time out against Manchester United, but Coutinho plays in a far less direct manner than they do, so poses his own questions. A fantastic striker of the ball from range and fairly proficient at sliding through defence splitting passes, Smith has to do his best to show him down the touch line and deter him from cutting inside at will.
Given his ability tacking back, it might be an idea to give Rajiv Van La Parra a nod from the start, especially if Elias Kachunga isn't fully fit. By giving Coutinho two players to beat, and one in Van La Parra that has the pace and freedom to tail him, Town stand the best chance of minimising his effect on proceedings.
- Christopher Lowe vs Mohamed Salah
Dropped for the Swansea game, Lowe came back in to the side with something to prove against Manchester United, and did his job brilliantly. Jesse Lingard wasn't even a factor because of the job Lowe did on him, and on the occasions Mata or Mkhitaryan floated in his direction, he was quick to shut them down, too. Romelu Lukaku did shake him off enough to get the cross away for Rashford's goal, but the failure where that was concerned is much more down to Town losing the transition before his break, and Rashford being allowed the time and space to get in a free header at such close range.
Salah isn't a complicated player by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that full-backs know what he's going to do isn't really much help. Blessed with ridiculous pace and fantastic close control, there's little to do with the winger when he's on form, other than make sure he can't receive the ball in much space and minimise the space in behind he has to run in to. Tottenham dealt with him in an interesting fashion, playing Serge Aurier out of position on the left to deal with his penchant for cutting inside, and that did seem to work well, so that's something Town should be aware of.
Again, the work Tom Ince does defensively is somewhat underrated, and he's going to have to be willing to help out Lowe when needed. That partnership between winger and full-back will be crucial against an attacking side that spend so much of their time on the flanks, and if Town do get that right, they've gone a long way to removing some of Liverpool's most potent weapons.
- Laurent Depoitre vs Joe Gomez
There's not a lot left to say about Depoitre that hasn't been said already. He has been an absolute revelation since Steve Mounie was injured, and he more than deserves to retain his place in the starting side. A tireless worker, he ran his blood to water against Manchester United, and didn't give their defence an inch, which is exactly how his goal came about.
Joel Matip is the only guaranteed starter in the backline for Liverpool at present, and given how Lovren played against Spurs, it's hard to see him being brought back in. That narrows their choices down Ragnar Klavan, who has the turning circle of a large lorry, and Joe Gomez, who could be moved inside from right-back, where he's been filling in while Nathaniel Clyne is missing. The latter is by far the more likely scenario, so given his age and shift of position, Gomez is who Town and Depoitre should be targeting.
Just 20-years-old and only recently back from serious injury, Depoitre should use his speed and physicality to get on top of Gomez, forcing Matip to cover across and leave room elsewhere. Liverpool have shown that their defence can be bullied, forced out of position and rushed in to silly mistakes, and that's exactly what Town should be aiming to exploit. Depoitre is an intelligent footballer who's been there and done it all, so it won't be the first time he's been sent in to a game with instructions of this nature. Men vs boys is a bit of a cliche, but in this scenario, it could be a reality - there's no time to be feeling sorry for anyone in the Premier League, anyway.
You can follow Raj Bains on Twitter over on @BainsXIII , and his Huddersfield Town book Underdog is being published later in 2017. It is available to order now, with the opportunity to have the name of your choice printed in a fans list at the back of the book. Please visit www.gnbooks.co.uk or call 01274 735056.
