May 16, 2023 — For most teams, it’s death by passes, but for Liverpool, it’s death by vertical passes. Any chance they got against Leicester, it was vertical over the top.

Liverpool’s identity is speed and verticality, and it plays right into Leicester’s weakness that I identified two months ago.

Feel like there's too many players assigned to Leicester's rest-offense. Their defense is often outnumbered in transition. Need Barnes (LW), Maddison (CM), and Tete (RW) to make an effort to get back. pic.twitter.com/hAqDS1QeG8

— Tactics Journal (@TacticsJournal) March 4, 2023

Leicester don’t commit everyone back to defend. They lose the ball, and then leave the back-four to defend against six Liverpool players.

2v1s frequently formed on the far-side.

Liverpool is too clinical a team to leave a man that free on the back post. Leicester contracts and Liverpool swiftly capitalizes.

Not only did Liverpool have a high volume of progressive passes, but their passes were varied in terms of location and distance.

Liverpool only capitalized on that one vertical progressive pass for the first goal. Their second goal came from consecutive passes on the ground, but the same far-side 2v1 overload occurred.

Curtis Jones’ finish was superb, that of a center-forward, not a midfielder—clinical.

I love the way Luis Diaz recognized the overload and held his run to allow the space to open on the back post.