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Arne Slot moved away from his preferred 4-2-3-1 line-up after deciding to bench Mohamed Salah for Liverpool's Champions League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt. The Reds were on a losing streak, having been defeated in their last four matches before heading to Germany. Following a 2-1 loss to Manchester United in their previous match with an unchanged starting XI, the Dutch head coach made five alterations for Wednesday night's meeting with the Bundesliga outfit. Salah was left out of the starting XI, along with Alexis Mac Allister, the injured Ryan Gravenberch, Milos Kerkez and Conor Bradley. In their place, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Curtis Jones, Jeremie Frimpong and Andy Robertson were all drafted into the Liverpool line-up. With Salah absent from the starting line-up, it was initially uncertain who would take up the right-wing position. Frimpong had previously filled this role when the Egyptian was benched for the Reds' prior Champions League encounter with Galatasaray. UEFA had initially set up Slot's team in a 4-3-3 formation with Ekitike starting on the right. However, it quickly became apparent post-kick-off that this was not the case. Instead, Liverpool adopted a more traditional 4-4-2 formation when not in possession, with Wirtz taking up the right midfield position. The shift in formation also saw Isak and Ekitike form a striking partnership for the first time, creating a £204m strike-duo following their summer transfers from Newcastle United and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively. When in control of the ball, Wirtz would shift into a more central role behind the two strikers, with Frimpong then offering width on the right from full-back. The Netherlands international was forced to be withdrawn with a hamstring injury after just 19 minutes , with Conor Bradley stepping in. The change did not alter the Reds' formation. Slot had hinted at such a tactical switch when interviewed by TNT Sports before the match. "We need to try today again is to create as much chances as we have the last few weeks," he stated. "Because that is very helpful that we have two players in the team who can score a goal. We are hoping and expecting Jeremie Frimpong to create something for these two from the right side and Cody Gakpo trying to do the same off the left, with Florian Wirtz's creativity in and around our two number nines. "That is looking at how they normally set up, the idea. They can play together. They showed this against United, although it was the second half. But it does mean that our midfield needs to be structured a little bit differently. "Where we normally play with one six, now we need Curtis and Dom to be a bit more defensively-minded than one of the two normally is." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
