While Luis Suarez frustrated his Fantasy owners by earning a caution which sees him suspended next weekend and Daniel Agger grabbed the only goal of the game, Saturday’s win over Southampton was all about the return of Lucas for Liverpool.

Midfield Effect

Sidelined since limping off just four minutes into the Gameweek 2 home draw with City, the Brazilian’s absence has forced a midfield reshuffle for the Reds, with both Joe Allen and Steven Gerrard dropping deeper than usual. Allen has mainly been parked in front of the centre-backs, while Gerrard has curtailed his forward forays from central midfield and has resultantly notched just twice this season. As Allen acknowledged after the game, it’s a role he’s still getting used to:

“I haven’t played there for a while so I found myself trying to get back into the swing of things but it was great to be part of a victory. I had that security of knowing that Lucas was there. It gives you the chance to express yourself further up the pitch, and try to get involved in creating and scoring goals.”

Looking at Allen’s average position this term (below left), he was more advanced on Saturday than he has been all season.

While this meant he was far less involved for touches (51 to 89.3) and passes (37 to 69.4) in comparison to the first 14 Gameweeks, Allen saw more of the ball further up the pitch. An average of 10 touches in the final third moved to 15 – as a percentage of his total touches this equates to a jump from 11% to 29% – while Allen also received more passes in the final third (8 to 6).

Lucas’ effect on Gerrard is far more significant in Fantasy terms. As the average position map (above right) shows, the Reds’ skipper was further forward in only one of his previous 14 fixtures. Although he saw less of the ball due to his more advanced berth behind Luis Suarez (68 touches to 91.1), Gerrard was almost identical for touches in the final third (27 to 28.7) and passes received in the final third (16 to 15.9), highlighting the fact that Lucas’ installation means he doesn’t have to get involved in deeper areas quite so much, allowing him to focus on attacking.

As a result, Gerrard had far more touches in the box (5 to 1.9) than his previous average and managed over three times the number of shots inside the box (2 to 0.6), while the number of chances created was almost double (5 to 2.6). There’s no denying Gerrard has been a poor Fantasy option this term – starting at 9.5 in FPL compared to Raheem Sterling’s 4.5, his score of 62 is just eight points better than the winger, but going on his increased attacking threat last weekend, the Liverpool captain may well be set for an upturn in Fantasy output now that Lucas’ arrival has freed him up to concentrate mainly on the offensive side of his game.

Enrique Remains a Threat

As shown by the average position map against Southampton (below), Lucas (21) was stationed virtually as deep as Martin Skrtel (37) when in possession, allowing the full-backs, in addition to the midfield, the chance to move forward.

After the game, Brendan Rodgers was keen to point out the effect Lucas’ return had on his overall team shape:

“You see with Lucas – all of a sudden, you put the right profile of player in the right position, and it frees up your offensive threats. He gives us great stability when we haven’t got the ball, he intercepts, his transition is good and he gets the ball back quickly. He knows the game, and he can read the game. With the midfield working like that, it gives your two full-backs the chance to go and join in. I thought Jose Enrique was unplayable, and Johnson too. So you see those two bombing on, you’ve got your controlling midfielder protecting the centre halves in that defensive triangle, your two advanced midfield players joining in in Joe and Steven, and then you’ve got your front three. That gives you a real creative threat, and I felt we had that today.”

As pointed out earlier, Allen and Gerrard may have had less involvement in deeper areas but this was mainly down to the Brazilian’s ability to patrol the zone in front of the centre-halves. Lucas registered 108 touches, 88 passes and 10 tackles – more than any other player on the pitch for all three categories.

Encouragingly for Jose Enrique’s owners, the signs are good, too. Drafted in by significant numbers of Fantasy managers after a recent shift to the left of the forward three, the Spaniard returned to left-back against the Saints and while this appears to have dented his appeal, the statistics suggest otherwise.

Looking at Enrique’s average position at the weekend (above right) compared to his previous three matches (above left) playing up front, it seems there is ample reason for optimism, with Lucas’ return affording him plenty leeway to bomb forward.

Between Gameweek 12-14, Enrique averaged 27 touches in the final third while playing up front – on Saturday, he managed 26. In terms of passes received, the drop was again minimal, down from 16.3 to 13, while he delivered more crosses (3 to 2.3) than his Gameweek 12-14 average. Enrique did, however, create half the number of goalscoring opportunities for others – down from 2 to 1 – but far more encouragingly, this is offset by his attacking potential.

Despite playing at left-back, he had more touches in the box (5 to 3.3) than when playing as a forward. Enrique also bettered the average when it came to shots (3 to 2.3), shots in the box (2 to 1.3) and also shots on target (2 to 0.7). Granted, it’s impossible to make any concrete conclusions based on a single game but Lucas’ impact seems apparent in every aspect of the analysis. Enrique’s place up front may be in question but with three home fixtures (AVL, FUL, SUN) and a trip to QPR in the next six, his owners have reason to be positive, going on Saturday’s statistics.

*The Technical Area is put together using the statistics and maps available in our members area. For access to such data and tools on every player, team and match of the 2012/13 season, and for exclusive members articles like this, click here for details.