Is Slot set to change Salah role?

BBC News

7 days ago

Along with Florian Wirtz and the two new full-backs, Hugo Ekitike points to a different Liverpool set-up.In 2024-25, some 47 of Liverpool's 86 goals (55%) were scored or assisted by Mohamed Salah, who ran the right wing almost on his own as Alexander-Arnold drifted inside.By contrast, Jeremie Frimpong is a very attacking, very wide right-back. That should take some of the pressure off Salah, but it might also see the Egyptian move infield to support the new creator-in-chief Wirtz, Liverpool's first proper number 10 in years.Adding weight to that theory is Ekitike's history of playing in a strike partnership. He was arguably at his best in a 3-5-2 alongside Omar Marmoush at Frankfurt, with whom he regularly swapped positions in a fluid forward line.Read more on Ekitike and Liverpool's tacticsHe was also more often than not playing in a two at Reims, where he made his name. Could Slot be planning something similar with Ekitike and Salah?In a 4-2-3-1, Frimpong's aggressive wing play on the right could free Salah to drift inside and operate as something like a split striker alongside Ekitike, with Wirtz and a number eight sitting just behind.That would certainly be direct, dynamic and straight-lined, and would certainly be ready for a turn towards fast-transitioning football next season.But it's just one of the options available to Slot now he has such a versatile number nine leading the charge.Ekitike can drop like Roberto Firmino or get in behind, can play alone or in a two, and can play transitional football or in a possession-centric side.He is the real deal: the centre-forward of the calibre and tactical dexterity pretty much every 'Big Six' club has been looking for.Whether Slot continues with Pep Guardiola-like patience or swings back towards Klopp-like verticality, Liverpool's chances of retaining the Premier League title just improved.