With Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz now both on double figures for goals already this season, Arne Slot has explained why Liverpool’s wingers are more productive.
Gakpo came away as Man of the Match after a goal and assist in Thursday’s 3-1 win over Leicester, with his long-range equaliser making it 10 for the season.
It comes with the Dutchman often competing for a spot on the left wing with Diaz, who himself has already netted 11 goals this term – albeit also playing as a No. 9 at times.
Mohamed Salah scored his 19th of the season to help clinch victory on Boxing Day, meaning Liverpool’s three regular wide options have netted 40 between them before the campaign’s halfway point.
In total last season, Salah, Gakpo and Diaz scored 54 between them, with it clear that Slot is getting more out of his wide players.
“I think the main difference maybe is that the setup from the front three was a bit different than the setup now,” Slot explained in his post-match press conference.
“We expect a bit more from our wingers, to keep it wide, to try to get them in one-vs-one situations.
“Cody has done this really well, Lucho has done this really well when he’s played from the left.
“But Lucho is in our opinion also capable of playing as a nine. He did that really well against Spurs.
“Against Spurs it was mainly Lucho and Mo that were dominant, now it was Cody again together with Mo, so it’s just nice to have so many options – in every position actually, but also in the front three.”
Interestingly, Slot’s system in favouring wide players is arguably similar to Jurgen Klopp‘s most successful iteration with Roberto Firmino the central foil for Salah and Sadio Mane.
Over time that changed, chiefly with the jarring £85 million signing of Darwin Nunez, with the emphasis more on supplying the Uruguayan.
But Slot has opted to shift things back to wingers staying high and wide and the central striker dropping deeper, which certainly benefits Gakpo, whose long-range prowess levelled things just before half-time against Leicester.
“I think it was crucial to score the 1-1 just before half-time,” the head coach admitted.
“Because that lifted us up, you could see that immediately in the second half when we just kept on going with what we did.
“It’s not only helpful for us, but I think it worked the opposite way for Leicester. They felt like ‘OK, it’s going to be tough’.”
Speaking to Premier League Productions, Andy Robertson agreed with Slot in that Liverpool have a variety of options capable of damaging teams.
It is difficult to predict which of Gakpo, Diaz and Nunez will start with Salah in attack, while the return of Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa will only complicate things further for opponents.
“Our bench was strong today, obviously we’ve got a few players back from injury, we’ve still got a couple to come back which will make us even stronger,” Robertson explained.
“As long as we all try to stay fit and do the right things, then we know we’ve got a squad to compete for anything.
“The changes we made today, the difference they can make and things like that, that’s what makes a really good team.
“To be fair, the lads coming off the bench, the attitude’s spot on.
“They have to sometimes come on and change the game, 11 players don’t win anything, it’s always 20, 25 players and we need everyone in a season.
“Hopefully we can keep making impact from the bench and also on the pitch.”
Liverpool 3-1 Leicester
