FM20 Team Guide & Tactic - Liverpool

Here is a brief team guide of the Liverpool squad in FM20, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.

Here is a brief club analysis of the Liverpool squad in FM20, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.

About the club

Liverpool are a club rich in history, with 18 league titles and 6 European cups, Liverpool are only 2nd in being the most successful club in England.

Recently, they are very strong side with superb performances in both the league and in Europe. The expectations of replacing Klopp who is a fan favourite will obviously be very high. Are you up for the challenge?

The board's expectations

Liverpool are the current holders of the UEFA Champions league and runners up in the Premier League, the board expectations should you take over will be;

1. A top 2 league finish (automatic qualification to the champions league)
2. A semi-final< finish at the UEFA Champions league
3. Reach final< finish in the FA cup 

The board will require you to play entertaining attacking football as a bonus requirement.

The transfer and wage budget should be sufficient, if you’re looking to change a couple of things up with the expectation of it to be around £100m and wage budget standing at £301k p/w.

The club are also blessed with excellent training facilities and a superb youth setup that churns out league ready players every season.

Liverpool are also one of the loudest stadiums in England and it should not be too difficult to make Anfield a fortress and a nightmare for away teams to visit.

Squad, Formation and Tactical Style

Liverpool have a pretty set and well-oiled first team and some able backups for most positions. Heading into the transfer market should only be a luxury for most managers.

With Liverpool you can probably continue using Klopp’s Gengenpress tactic. They have players with high work rate and the gegenpress will ensure that the ball is won high up the pitch itself. This is also a double edged sword with fatigue becoming a factor during a congested fixture list and also the chance for injuries to increase. You could alternatively deploy a simply vertical tiki taka which is also a fast paced tactic aimed at creating a lot of chances.

A 4-3-3 DM or a 4-3-3 is from my experience the most reliable tactic for this Liverpool squad. You can alter how attacking or defensive your team lines up based on fixtures but the trusted 433 always works for Liverpool.

A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-3-3 formation is as follows;

• Alisson Becker as a sweeper keeper
• Trent Alexander Arnold & Andy Robertson as complete wing-backs/ wing-backs with increased crossing instructions.
• Virgil Van Dijk as a ball playing defender with stopper role and Joel Matip/Joe Gomes as the other ball playing defender.
• Fabinho to play as a defensive midfielder in a deep lying midfielder (Defend) role or a regista role.
• Wijnaldum as a Box to Box midfielder & Milner/Henderson in a Deep lying playmaker role with support duty.
• Sadio Mane on the left wing as a winger & Mohammad Salah on the right wing as an inside forward.
• Roberto Firmino as a lone Pressing Forward.

Key Players

The entire first team is riddled with key players with quite a few members being picked in the league’s and European team of the year. To pick out a few,

1. Virgil Van Dijk



Virgil Van Dijk was named UEFA men’s player of the year and is probably the best central defender in the game. He is a rock defensively especially in 1 on 1 situations and is also an aerial threat from set pieces.

2. Mohammad Salah & Sadio Mane



With 53 league goals in between the 2 wide forwards the Liverpool front 3 usually outscores most attacks. They are crucial to any FM manager’s Liverpool aspirations.

3. Alisson Becker



Alisson is the key to maintaining composure at the back. He helped Liverpool take the final step in winning the champions league and is probably amongst their top 5 crucial players. His calmness, ball playing ability and distribution are important to the Liverpool defence and in them getting quick counter attacks started.

4. Georginio Wijnaldum



Wijnaldum is probably one of the most underrated players in Liverpool. He runs the midfield and helps in transition from defence to attack. He also contributes key goals and is a very important big game player.

Weaknesses

Liverpool as such do not have many weaknesses and will be a comparatively smoother ride for most managers unless they horrible luck with injuries. However, some of their weaknesses are,

1. The best tactic that suit Liverpool is the Gegenpress, but it is a double edged sword with injures being a common occurrence. You will also have to rotate the squad more than normal because of fatigue.
2. There is a massive drop in quality after the first team, especially in the attacking wingers department with no proper backups for Salah or Mane.
3. The board and fan expectations are pretty high and anything other than championships could be seen as failure.

Youngsters to keep an eye on

There are a lot of exciting young prospects in the ranks or on loan who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are;

• Rhian Brewster (ST)
• Ki-Jana Hoever (CB)
• Rhys Williams (CB)
• Harry Wilson (CAM)

FM20 Liverpool summery

To Summarise, Liverpool are one of the strongest teams in the English Premier League & a favourite for many FM managers. Can you guide them to their elusive EPL title over league favourites Man City? Can you help the team defend their Champions League title? The quality is definitely high but so are the expectations.