Liverpool recorded their first Premier League win in a month on Saturday evening.
The reigning champions are now up to third in the league table following a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. The Reds trail leaders Arsenal by seven points but the performance against Unai Emery’s men at Anfield was hugely encouraging.
It was the most balanced they’d looked in a while.
Giorgi Mamardashvili kept his first clean sheet since the move to Merseyside. He pulled off a few big saves in the win for the Reds, but Arne Slot’s side didn’t give up many high value chances.
And that’s the biggest takeaway from this game. The visitors only managed an expected goals (xG) total of 0.4. It’s the first time Liverpool have limited their opponents to an xG of sub 0.5 since the win over Burnley on September 14th.
Emery’s side had 10 shots in total but didn’t carve out a single big chance. That is a significant improvement on previous defensive showings for Liverpool.
Against Brentford, for example, Slot’s men gave up seven big chances and the hosts finished with an xG of 2.75.
In attack things also looked a little better in some ways. Yes, they finished with an xG of just 1.19 but they did create four big chances. They also weren’t chasing the game at any point meaning they didn’t have to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition.
They could control things.
Slot reverted to the tried and tested formula of last season with Andrew Robertson coming in for Milos Kerkez and Dominik Szoboszlai returning to the attacking midfield position. Alexis Mac Allister was deployed in midfield alongside Ryan Gravenberch, making his first start since the defeat to Manchester United.
The familiarity helped. It helped one man in particular.
The four-time Golden Boot winner was influential in the game against Villa. He completed the most dribbles in the game with five. He scored the opener too. Salah finished with 62 touches in the game, the most he’s had this season.
He attempted eight dribbles, the same amount as he’s attempted across his last three Premier League outings. He also attempted six progressive carries, the same number as he’d managed in his last two top flight matches in England.
The No11 also attempted 36 progressive carries, the most he’s managed this season.
The Reds found a way to get Salah involved in the game again and he responded with his best showing of the campaign. It is as simple as that.
In truth, it was the team’s best performance of the 2025/26 season. The only other time they’d looked as well drilled and organised as this was against Everton in mid-September.
Despite a bright opening 45 minutes in that match at Anfield against the Toffees, the visitors did grow into the game and could’ve claimed a point.
There are similarities between both of these games. Slot made the decision to go back to basics. The Dutch tactician used Szoboszlai as his No10, sticking legs and running power alongside Salah. Gravenberch scored in both games. Conor Bradley was the right-back in both of these fixtures.
Against Everton, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak had to settle for a place on the bench. This time, with Isak injured, it was the Liverpool No7 on the bench, despite missing the midweek Carabao Cup game against Crystal Palace.
The elephant in the room is that the Champions’ best two performances this season have coincided with Wirtz and Isak not being in the starting XI. The Reds spent over £200million on these two players this summer and Slot is yet to figure out a way to make it work.
Granted, Isak spent the first few weeks of his time on Merseyside getting up to speed fitness wise and he’s now absent with an injury.
Wirtz, though, is a bit of a headache for Slot.
According to reports, he was sold on the idea of being the main man in this Liverpool attack. Despite starting as the attacking midfielder, he’s since been used in a variety of positions by the former Feyenoord boss. He’s popped up on the left, on the right and even as part of a double pivot in midfield.
Wirtz is yet to make a position his own and his influence on this team is waning.
He was benched against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa. He’s started just 60% of the matches in the Premier League. In fact, since the 1-0 win over Burnley, he’s started just two of six
Liverpool last won a Premier League game that Wirtz started in September. They’re yet to win a game in the English top tier that Isak started.
The sample size isn’t the largest but that is concerning, isn’t it?
The Reds invested heavily in these two players this summer but haven’t yet figured out a way to get them firing while impressing as a team. Their best two performances as a team arrived with Szobozlai playing his old role and Hugo Ekitike leading the line.
Obviously, team performance out-ranks individual showings, but Liverpool didn’t break their transfer record twice this season for these players to be on the bench during a crunch time of the season.
Slot needs to figure something out, and quickly.
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