When Bale has struggled this season it has been when teams have crowded him out in the middle. Bale does not have the tight dribbling skills of a Leo Messi or Luis Suarez, and can find it hard to influence the game when he does not have space to move into, both on and off the ball. If Liverpool€™s three central midfielders sit tight together and do not move too far away, they will be able to work together to close down Bale and stop him reading at them like he did with such effect against West Ham and Norwich recently. They will also help stop through balls being played through their defence, as happened against Arsenal in the North London derby last week.