Arne Slot just found winning formula that could deliver Liverpool the Champions League

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot didn't want to take credit for his side's win over Galatasaray in the Champions League, but he undoubtedly found a formula that worked

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It could have been 10. That was what Hugo Ekitike said after Liverpool set up a rematch with PSG this week by demolishing Galatasaray 4-0 in the Champions League.

And, while there have been a few false dawns already this season and it would therefore be unwise to think that this is definitively a corner turned, this was clearly a much better attacking performance. It was the first time that Arne Slot had put this particular starting XI together, and it looked much more fluent.

Liverpool racked up more than five expected goals, and though not every team will be as open and willing to leave gaps for the Reds to exploit as Galatasaray was, the patterns of play and clever combinations that were being woven have not been seen often this term.

Milos Kerkez put in his best performance of the season — the kind of showing that most people expected when he arrived from Bournemouth last summer.

The $54 million (£40 million) man was everywhere on the day, putting in tackles and never losing his ferocious appetite to win the ball back and then drive forward.

On the opposite flank, Jeremie Frimpong was the widest player — again, a logical move for a player who is something of a halfway house between a full-back and a winger — and Mohamed Salah moved inside.

On the left, Florian Wirtz was drifting and popping up all over the place, with Hugo Ekitike knitting things together in front, at least when he got into his groove in the second half.

Mohamed Salah played well for Liverpool against Galatasaray.(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The forward line was closer together (and closer to goal), the midfield — crucially, with Dominik Szoboszlai in his best role — looked a lot more compact, and the full-backs were pivotal.

"I think tonight is not about tactics, it's mainly about the work they've put in, the support they got from the fans, and then, of course, tactics can help," Slot insisted.

"But this work rate, this intensity, this combination of play is always more important than tactics."

Though the Dutchman was keen to praise the fans' impact, Slot's set-up saw the attacking components click into gear as well. And even if Salah doesn't make the trip to the Amex Stadium because of the injury that forced him off, a similar system has to be implemented again.

"We've played this tactic before — Frankfurt away, Inter Milan away and some other games — but usually this season, then we've got a player injured; we couldn't do it again because then we miss out on a certain type in a certain position," Slot continued.

"It's not as simple as you think to say, 'OK, if you can bring this tonight, you can bring this effort every single game you have.' There's an opponent to play against, there's a style of play.

"There are so many factors of why we could bring tonight what we could bring. I think it's fair to say for me — especially for all of you because you are following Liverpool so many times — that Anfield and the players can also rise to the occasion."

Though Slot played the impact of the system down, against Brighton this week — and probably beyond that too — this has to be the template.

Getting all the key parts playing in their best roles and having square pegs in square holes was a formula that worked, and in the race for the Champions League places, there is no time to lose in Liverpool finally finding some momentum.