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Liverpool do not have their full complement of forwards just yet, but insight from players and what we have seen so far in pre-season gives us a good idea of what to expect in attack.
For the first time since he took over, Arne Slot was able to utilise a natural forward in a match situation as Diogo Jota was picked to start against Arsenal.
He was flanked by Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho, with Harvey Elliott then pushing up and operating as a No. 10 throughout, giving the Reds dynamism and unpredictability up top.
Liverpool have a mix of forward players who either want the ball to feet or on the run, and Carvalho has now offered insight into what the coaches want to see in the attacking third.
Speaking to LFCTV after netting a brilliant goal against Arsenal, Carvalho revealed he’s been told he needs to make runs in-behind as Liverpool look to ‘play through the thirds’.
The 21-year-old said: “Playing through the thirds is what he wants us to do and getting a lot of players in the box.
“Not just the gaffer but the coaching staff have been on to me about running in behind, not just getting it into feet. That’s something I’ve been working on.”
It is what created the goal against the Gunners, with Elliott able to find Carvalho with a delightful chip over a static Arsenal defence.
Liverpool’s quick ball movement has been a feature of their pre-season so far, with their desire to draw the opposition to press creating the trigger for the Reds to transition up the pitch.
This creates space in behind the defence – as Mohamed Salah‘s goal against Arsenal showed – and Slot noted that is his plan when assessing the performance post-match.
“[Arsenal] did what we intended to, they played every ball in behind the last line,” he said.
What is the significance?
With Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez still to return to training, we have yet to see Slot’s style in action with a host of first-choice options.
But what we can deduce is how Liverpool want to move the ball and create chances. First, with systematic wing movements that create close-range chances, much like Man City do.
And we have also seen the space there will be to exploit in the final third, with the Reds’ work closer to their own goal subsequently creating areas for the forwards to run into.
The idea of running behind the line would certainly play into Nunez’s strengths, and it is no surprise that Slot has already been vocal about him fitting “really well into this [playing style].”
Nunez will have to combine that with defensive work and hold-up play, but what we are hearing and seeing so far suggests the strengths of Liverpool’s attackers will naturally come to the fore.
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