Tribalfootball.com's tactics expert Connor Holden breaks down Sunday's exciting clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge:

As the points were shared, following a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, there were some key tactical figures that stood out from the game:

Liverpool's lack of a defensive midfielder, Cody Gakpo having to play deeper (isolated at times), Levi Colwill isolated against Mohamed Salah in 1v1 scenarios due to Chilwell's advanced position, and the brilliance of a right hand side triangle formed by Reece James, Enzo Fernandez and Raheem Sterling.

LIVERPOOL'S MIDFIELD MISERY

Liverpool have revitalised their midfield this summer, with the two major signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. However the lack of a holding midfielder suppressed the capabilities of Mac Allister, and meant Gakpo had to be used as one of the deeper 8s.

As you can see in figure 1, Alexis Mac Allister started in midfield alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Gakpo.

Mac Allister therefore (being the more defensively able) had to play as more of a holding midfielder, alongside Trent Alexander Arnold, when he inverted into the double pivot. This allowed Szoboszlai and Gakpo to be further advanced, as the two number 8s.

As you can see by the average positions graph, Gakpo (number 18) was pinned back quite deep by Chelsea, not allowing him to use his attacking attributes that Liverpool wanted from him centrally. Mac Allister (number 10) is also the deepest of the midfield three (as mentioned), which suppressed his ability to contribute in attacking areas.

The acquisition of an out and out defensive midfielder is a priority for Liverpool in this midfield rebuild, as was shown again Sunday against Chelsea. Simply by bringing in a defensive midfielder, this allows Mac Allister to play as a number 8, further up the pitch where he is more effective, as well as allowing Gakpo to play further forward, either upfront or on the wing.

CHELSEA'S ROMPING RIGHT-SIDE

As previously mentioned, Chelsea caused Liverpool a lot of problems down the right hand side.

Forming triangles between Reece James, Enzo Fernadez and Raheem Sterling, often with the outcome being James playing the final ball at the byline. This seemed to be a decisive pattern that manager Mauricio Pochettino wanted to see, as often the interchanges between these 3, resulted in James running beyond Andrew Robertson to play the final ball.

In figure 2, you can see Chelsea set up in a 3-4-2-1, with James and Ben Chilwell pushed up as wingbacks, and Carney Chukwuemeka and Raheem Sterling slightly more infield.

The average position map shows the triangle previously mentioned, numbers 8, 24 and 7 (Enzo Fernandez, James and Sterling), formed this shape to interchange the ball together, and create attacking overloads against Robertson.

The other forward runners such as Nicolas Jackson, Chukwuemeka and Chilwell from left wing back, would offer switches of play, and runs into the box to get on the end of the James crosses. This was causing Liverpool all kinds of trouble, and nearly resulted in a few goals.

OTHER TACTICAL HIGHLIGHTS

As mentioned in the introduction, this system Chelsea adopted against Liverpool meant that Colwill found himself isolated with Salah on occasions (especially in the first half).

Due to Chilwell's advanced position, playing high up, practically as a left winger, this meant when possession was lost, Colwill would often find himself isolated in 1v1 situations with Salah in wider areas. Whilst I think Colwill dealt with this well, this detail did allow Liverpool multiple goal scoring opportunities, including their goal where Salah collected the ball and ran at Colwill, then finding the assist for Luis Diaz for the opening goal.

Liverpool exploited this well in the first half, finding Salah in these positions to get at Colwill in wider areas, 1v1.

Another key talking point from this game was the brilliance of Fernadez, and the more free role he was given in midfield (slightly higher up).

Fernandez was given more licence in the Chelsea midfield, to play higher up and affect the game in offensive areas with his passing ability. Conor Gallagher was given the duties of protecting the defensive line, and recovering the ball in midfield areas (which he did brilliantly).

Enzo played 10/11 accurate long balls, played 2 key passes, had 118 touches, 84 accurate passes (90.4% completion), and had one big chance created, not including his assist for Chilwell's offside goal with a clever pass behind the Liverpool defence.

This slightly more advanced role gives Fernandez the chance to create chances with his passing ability and progress the ball quickly into dangerous areas to benefit Chelsea's forwards.