Mohamed Salah has left Liverpool to lead Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but the player could miss up to eight games if the Pharaohs reach the final in Morocco on January 18. So how could Arne Slott rebuild his team without his star forward?
However, Liverpool’s trip to play Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday Night Football is not the first time Slott has chosen a team without Salah in his starting XI this season, with the 33-year-old having been on the bench for the champions’ last five games in a row.
Salah has featured as a substitute in a total of seven games so far this season, first being rested in September and October for Champions League trips to Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
He was left out for tactical reasons in recent Premier League games against West Ham United, Sunderland, Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion, and was completely absent from the Reds’ match-day squad for the Champions League game at Inter Milan earlier this month, claiming he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club.
Saturday, December 20th 5pm
5:30pm kickoff
In these games, Slott gave hints on how to set up his team without Salah by using different personnel on the right side of the attack and tweaking the formation.
Frimpong as a fast-paced wing-back
galatasaray (a)
formation
4-2-3-1
Who will replace Salah on the right side?
Jeremy Frimpong
How did Slott explain the change?
“Jeremy played a lot of time as a right-winger for Leverkusen and also played for us in pre-season.
“He’s one of the players who can replace Mo in that position. There aren’t many other players who can play in that position that they like. It’s one of his favorite positions and he always plays there for the national team.”
“Normally, normally, usually they (Galatasaray) reverse the left wing and play the full-backs very high up, then the left wing reverses and plays in midfield, so Dom (Szoboszlai) is in midfield and Jeremy plays as a sort of wing-back.
“Mo has already played a lot of minutes, so that’s what we decided to do today. I think he was pretty happy with how he actually played in the first half.”
How successful was it?
It was the first time this season that Slott opted to try Frimpong in a more favored role on the right-wing of Liverpool’s attack, rather than as a full-back at the start of the season.
Frimpong’s pace should make him a dangerous opponent in that role, especially if you can get the ball to him in space on the counter-attack. However, after breaking into Galatasaray’s area several times early on and being let down on the final ball, the Dutchman’s influence waned and he was hooked just past the hour mark of the Reds’ defeat in Istanbul.
Slott has not been able to revisit this tactic due to a recurrence of his hamstring problem, but with the player back in training and available, could the Dutchman try it again in Salah’s absence?
Szoboszlai was incorporated as part of 4-4-2
frankfurt and leeds (a)
formation
4-4-2
Who will replace Salah on the right side?
Dominik Szoboszlai
How did Slott explain the change?
“We expect Frimpong to create something for those two on the right, with Florian Wirtz’s creativity around our two number nines, and Kodi Gakpo trying to do the same on the left,” the Reds manager said ahead of the game against Frankfurt.
“In the 5-3-2 game against Leeds, I played a 4-4-2 diamond with Szoboszlai on the right, Gakpo on the left and Wirtz in between, and I could have played Mo on the right.”
How successful was it?
The team scored eight goals away, including two from Szoboszlai, who replaced Salah and also provided an assist against Germany, so it worked out pretty well from that perspective.
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Dominik Szoboszlai restores Liverpool’s lead against Leeds with a brilliant finish
Slott used a different right-back in this new 4-4-2 formation (Frimpong was forced off injured after just 19 minutes against Frankfurt), with Szoboszlai pushed forward to play more infield in a narrow midfield.
However, the difference between the two line-ups is that at October’s Commerzbank Arena the Reds wore a two-out No. 9, while at Elland Road Wirtz played as a No. 10 right alongside Hugo Ekitike, with both having limited success.
Szoboszlai as a right winger
West Ham (a), Sunderland (h), Brighton (h)
formation
4-2-3-1
Who will replace Salah on the right side?
Dominik Szoboszlai
How did Slott explain the change?
“I think as a team, we struggled. The game plan against us gets tougher and tougher. I’m not just talking about long balls. Teams do that well against us. I’ve been trying to find solutions. That’s my job.”
“I’m doing a lot of different things. I looked vulnerable against (Nottingham) Forest and PSV (Eindhoven), so I tried to play as an extra midfielder against West Ham.”
How successful was it?
Liverpool certainly look the most balanced in this formation, with Slott sacrificing an attacker to play two number sixes in front of a back four that has scored an astonishing seven goals in the past two games at Anfield.
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Free to watch: Highlights of the Premier League match between West Ham and Liverpool
Szoboszlai was once again assigned to replace Salah on the right wing, but he played less infield than in the 4-4-2 mentioned above and worked more with the right-back.
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Premier League highlights of Liverpool vs Sunderland
There is no doubt that the champions were much harder to break through, with Slott frequently mentioning how few chances his side had conceded in the last three games (only conceding one goal), which seemed to have hampered their attacking threat.
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Free to watch: Highlights of Liverpool vs. Brighton’s Premier League victory
Szoboszlai as an evolved right midfielder
Inter (a)
formation
4-1-2-1-2
Who will replace Salah on the right side?
Dominik Szoboszlai
How did Slott explain the change?
“The idea behind the line-up is that there aren’t that many players available, but in my opinion, if you don’t have a winger available, it’s most logical to play with two number nines.
“It’s not the first time we’ve played in this system. Maybe we did something similar to what we did tonight against Leeds, but for them (Alexander Isak and Ekitike) it’s the first time they’ve played together since the Frankfurt game.”
How successful was it?
While Liverpool limited Inter to just two shots on target throughout the game, Szoboszlai not only linked up well with the front two, but also formed a strong partnership with the full-backs on the right flank, perhaps their best yet.
And one wonders whether Slott will return to this set-up for Saturday’s game in north London, where Szoboszlai is expected to be fit, especially if he wants to play both Isak and Ekitike up front, while trying to keep firm at the back, as the team did so well at the San Siro.
How might Semenyo’s appointment in January affect things?
formation
4-3-3
Who will replace Salah on the right side?
Antoine Semenyo
How well would it work?
Of course, by the time Salah returns from AFCON, Bournemouth forward Semenyo could already be at Liverpool.
The Reds have long had an interest in the exciting Ghanaian international, but his contract has a £65m release clause that comes into effect from January 1, with sporting director Richard Hughes looking to bring the 25-year-old from Bristol City to the Vitality Stadium in 2023.
Semenyo has since scored 29 goals in over 100 appearances for the Cherries and is perfectly capable of playing on either flank, having split his playing time almost evenly between left wing and right wing this season.
That is one of the main reasons why the player is currently attracting not only Liverpool but also Tottenham and Manchester.
But if the Reds can convince Semenyo that his future is best suited at Anfield, Slott would fit seamlessly into the favored 4-3-3 formation that led Liverpool to last season’s title, with Salah’s impromptu replacement on the right flank.
Watch Tottenham v Liverpool on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 5pm (kick-off 5.30pm) on Saturday
