Paul Pogba is the biggest weakness of Manchester United – and Liverpool can exploit it

This weekend, Liverpool will face perhaps its biggest test so far in its quest for the Premier League title, by going to Old Trafford to face his rival, Manchester United.

There is a clear gap between the two teams on the board, but only on the basis of the results obtained since the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United exceeds the Reds by five points.

That said, the contest will probably be very competitive. Both teams will undoubtedly seek to badert their dominance over the debates, with neither leader likely favoring the role of inferiority, which may not have been the case during José Mourinho's tenure.

So, given the prediction of a direct battle, how can Liverpool go about getting an edge on his team?

To determine this, let's take a look at how PSG exploited United in their recent 2-0 win.

Prior to the European meeting, Solskjaer's tactical approach was ambiguous as it was his first test against a strong team at Old Trafford.

Previously, Solskjaer had used counter-attack approaches against powerful opponents such as Tottenham and Arsenal, but both had left home.

This approach is generally less well accepted by fans when they play at home, and Solskjaer seemed to anticipate this by refusing to adapt, playing his favorite 4-3-3 and fighting for the lead role in the match.

Crucially, Solskjaer's reluctance to modify his adversary-based system because of the Old Trafford factor suggests that, against Liverpool, the overall pattern should be quite similar.

So, how did PSG do it?

The answer is limiting and then exploiting Paul Pogba. The Frenchman is United's most creative player, and Solskjaer gives him a license to attack to use that quality.

However, Thomas Tuchel, head coach of PSG, proposed an interesting ploy to stop and then attack by the midfielder.

First, he asked Marquinhos to essentially score the 25-year-old by sticking it every time United had it, as shown in the graph below.

It seemed to work, because before the match, Pogba posted an average number of pbades of 65 minutes, while he was barely scoring 33 times against PSG – his lowest score under Solskjaer so far.

Secondly, Tuchel asked Julian Draxler to stand behind Pogba, in order to exploit the space that Pogba was allowed to leave, as shown below.

PSG played a difficult 4-2-3-1 formation that day, with Draxler (No. 10) and Marquinhos (right).

As for Liverpool, this is an approach that could be somewhat imitated because of the staff that Jurgen Klopp has.

Two of the Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum and Naby Keita would play the roles of midfielder, Mohamed Salah would probably play the role of most advanced attacker, then Roberto Firmino would be free to operate effectively as Draxler.

It is unlikely, however, that Klopp uses a direct tagging strategy, which he had never done before in Liverpool.

This is due in large part to the German's belief in synergy, collective strength and operation in a compact unit.

This does not mean that Pogba will not be stopped, but it is quite reasonable to suggest that Klopp can expect the team to cancel him rather than the same individual.

Conclusion

All in all, Sunday's upcoming game will surely be a competition between two of the best offensive teams.

Recently, however, PSG has demonstrated a ploy that has managed to stop the key man of United and exploit it defensively.

This is an approach that Liverpool can draw upon as it has ultimately contributed to Solskjaer's first and only defeat to date since taking over the Manchester club.