Liverpool’s need to arrest their form and turn defeats into results has seen Arne Slot turn to a new system, and Harry McMullen explains why it relies heavily on the midfield.
Ten months on from the iconic image of Dominik Szoboszlai face down on the Etihad turf, he wasn’t even on the pitch.
He was withdrawn as an injury precaution towards the end of the 2-0 win over Brighton last Saturday, but his teammates were equally spent as the full-time whistle blew.
I was one of the thousands who rose to applaud at full time inside Anfield, on a day that demonstrated both the potential and the problems with Liverpool’s new system.
Tightening up the defence
Arne Slot had to stop the goals going in. The 4-1 defeat to PSV at Anfield meant Liverpool had conceded 10 goals in that run of three games.
In the five games since, Liverpool have gone unbeaten with three wins and two draws, conceding four goals – three of which came at Elland Road when the Reds suffered a late, self-imposed implosion.
The focus on those games has naturally been the absence of Mohamed Salah. But it’s arguably less about the removal of Salah and more about the addition of an extra midfielder.
In possession, Liverpool now have more players in central areas to combine quickly with shorter passes.
Slot talked last year about the ball moving quickly “from foot to foot,” and this has been visible with the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Curtis Jones exchanging fluidly.
In the event that the ball is lost, Liverpool’s structure is now much more compact, with the central bodies better positioned to swarm around the ball and win it back.
While Liverpool’s attacking numbers have been relatively unremarkable, this new setup is getting the best out of Hugo Ekitike.
Not only has he been fearless in showing for the ball and combining with his midfielders, he’s also Liverpool’s current top scorer with four goals in his last two Premier League appearances.
Rediscovering intensity
One key difference in Slot’s Liverpool has been a determination to keep a plus-one at the back.
Many teams now are committed to a player-for-player pressing approach, where outfield players “lock on” to an opponent to mark once the press is triggered.
This means the opposition have no easy passes on, but it also means the whole game becomes a series of 1v1s. If you lose your 1v1, space naturally opens up for the opponent to exploit.
Liverpool have been largely resistant to this under Slot. He likes his frontline to press the ball high up, usually with a midfielder joining the frontline to press with four players.
But the backline will always keep an extra number back rather than “locking on” to the opposition, meaning there is a free man in buildup if the opponent can find him.
This approach means a lot more tracking back instead of doubling down on the press, and a greater reliance on your last line of defence to repel attacks. In theory, sitting deeper and tracking back is safer, and that worked last season.
But this season the defence has struggled, with Ibrahima Konate “a bit too often at the scene of the crime” in Slot’s own words.
What was particularly notable against Inter was that Liverpool switched approach at half time. In Slot’s words:
“In the first half we tried to keep a plus one in and around our last line, but after the substitutions they made we struggled more and more…So, we said during half-time, we have to be more aggressive in our press, we’re going to go more one-v-one.”
Liverpool scored their winning goal in that half and, consequently, they started the Brighton game in the same manner.
The early opening goal came from this. When Yankuba Minteh has the ball, he’s under direct pressure from Jones, but Liverpool have eight of their 10 outfield players pushed right up inside Brighton’s defensive third.
Brighton consequently have every man back and no outlet for the ball. Minteh boots it long…
…and with right-back Joe Gomez pushed up, he wins his 1v1…
…to tee up Hugo Ekitike’s finish.
To make this midfield-heavy approach possible, Slot has turned to his full-backs rather than wingers to provide width.
When fully fit, all of the full-back options are better suited to this style of play. With Gomez being required to fill in during this run, he’s not only added his usual defensive solidity but also notched two assists.
The prospect of adding Jeremie Frimpong to this system on his return from injury is tremendously exciting.
Risks of overload
However, as with all tactical approaches, it’s a tradeoff. With a two-man frontline, the onus is on the midfield to jump up and lead the press.
At times on Saturday I saw Jones, Mac Allister, Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch all sprinting forwards to harass the opposition goalkeeper when in possession.
When Liverpool surged forward in attack, it could be any number of the five midfielders Slot started who were crashing the box.
“The positioning of Konate, I just can’t believe” ?@Carra23 analyses Leeds’ first goal against Liverpool ? pic.twitter.com/B95ZNBfKGJ
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2025
Not only did this pose a risk to Liverpool’s rest defence, but the absence of a true holding midfielder meant every player had to cover the hard yards in both directions.
This threatened to become an issue late on, with Brighton pushing for a goal to get back into the game. Jamie Carragher highlighted against Leeds the tendency of Liverpool’s centre-backs, particularly Konate, to drop in and mark central space rather than cover behind the full-back.
Consequently, it becomes the midfield’s job to track back and defend the channel behind the full-back when the ball is turned over.
Imagine you’re playing in midfield for Liverpool. You need to be constantly available to receive the ball under pressure, jump up to lead the press, crash the box during attacking counters and also track back to cover the defensive counters.
Is it any surprise the midfield looked especially spent at full-time on Saturday?
Slot has six senior options for his new four-man midfield setup, and he used five of them on Saturday – the sixth, Wataru Endo, is currently carrying an ankle injury.
Szoboszlai hobbled off after a painful landing towards the end of the game, while Mac Allister played through the pain barrier with no subs remaining.
Wirtz has been working through a fitness issue since the last international break, and Jones has had injury absences in almost every senior campaign to date.
The last time Liverpool had a system that relied on the work rate of the midfield, it was Klopp’s 4-3-3. They carried eight senior options into the 2022/23 season and still struggled to keep the pace for a full season.
Slot’s fab five were brilliant on Saturday, but they’ll need to dig deep if they want to stand tall by the end of the season.