Liverpool – Aston Villa: Slot Goes Back To Basics (2-0)

Arne Slot returned to last season's midfield blueprint here, with a 4-3-3 system that also tried to platform Mohamed Salah as much as possible. With their high pressing and some nice attacking dynamics on the right side, Liverpool were able to secure a comfortable win against Aston Villa despite still not being on top form.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

Arne Slot's side came into this game looking to break their terrible run of domestic form, with a 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup just the latest in a run of five straight defeats in domestic competition. Their opponents, Aston Villa, had a poor start to the season before starting to recover form, winning against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in their last two league outings.

After a back-three experiment in midweek, Slot went with a 4-3-3 system for this game. Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson started in defense, while Ryan Gravenberch returned to the midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister, with Dominik Szoboszlai completing the trio. The frontline was then made up of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Hugo Ekitike.

Unai Emery also deployed a 4-2-3-1 shape, with . . .