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Arne Slot said that a lack of wide players available to him led him to setting his team up in a diamond formation for the Champions League game against Inter Milan.
Mohamed Salah did not travel to Milan following his comments at Elland Road over the weekend, while Cody Gakpo and Jeremie Frimpong are injured.
Slot did not feel as though he had enough wide players available to him in order to be able to set the team up with attacking wingers in the San Siro.
Ryan Gravenberch lined up at the base of Liverpool's midfield, with Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones ahead of him, with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike partnering each other up front.
Explaining his team selection, Slot said: "The thinking is in this moment of time I have 13 players or so. Conor Bradley came back from an injury [recently], Florian Wirtz had to play three games in 10 days, so the thinking is there aren't many available in if you don't have wingers available - we have Rio [Ngumoha] but he is young - it's logical to go with two [up top].
"It's only the second time they [Ekitike and Isak] have started together. They are very good players. It's not the first time we played the system (two up front). Against Leeds, we did something similar. For them, the only other time they played together was against Frankfurt. It's normal that they need to find a certain connection – the more they play together, the more that will happen."
Salah was omitted from the Liverpool squad for the game against Inter following the remarks he made in the Elland Road mixed zone on Saturday.
Salah claimed that he no longer has a relationship with Liverpool head coach Slot, while suggesting that the club had thrown him under the bus this season.
Jamie Carragher slammed Salah for his comments on Monday, saying: "I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst, I do not think it was.
"I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he's done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it is choreographed by him and his agent to cause maximum damage and to strengthen his own position."
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