Liverpool were looking to make it 13 games unbeaten when they travelled to France for a Champions League meeting with Marseille.
There were a couple of key personnel changes made both in the eleven and on the bench for Wednesday’s game.
As was confirmed earlier in the week, Ibrahima Konate has family issues and missed the tie.
That saw Joe Gomez partner Virgil van Dijk at centre-back, while there was no room in the midfield for Curtis Jones, and Federico Chiesa was withdrawn from the squad pre-match with a knock.
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Elsewhere, Arne Slot opted to put Mohamed Salah straight back into the starting line-up following his return from AFCON.
Some Liverpool fans were concerned about Salah versus Marseille, who was playing in a slightly different role.
Liverpool change system for Champions League tie vs Marseille
On paper, it seemed like Slot had set up with his usual formation, with Florian Wirtz playing off the right and Dominik Szoboszlai acting at the 10 in front of the midfield pivot.
However, the Liverpool coach actually opted for more of a 4-2-2-2 formation on Wednesday, seeing Salah and Hugo Ekitike almost acting as wide strikers.
Former Red Stephen Warnock explained the system change when covering the match for BBC Sport.
He said: “Liverpool are playing with a box in midfield, with Wirtz and Szoboszlai ahead of Mac Allister and Gravenberch.
“Their front players, Salah and Ekitike, are playing centrally too – only slightly wider – it is Liverpool’s full-backs, Frimpong and Kerkez who are providing all the genuine width.”
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While the system change got more out of the attack-minded full-backs, it does leave some questions for the coming months.
Wirtz’s impact off the left was slightly lessened, though the German did not play poorly by any means.
Furthermore, this new formation still can’t really accommodate Wirtz, Ekitike, Salah and the injured Alexander Isak.
The Swede is not expected back until March, so it’s not something Slot will have to worry about right now.
However, given Isak is the most expensive player in British history, Liverpool will need to find a way to start him regularly while not hampering the likes of Ekitike and Wirtz.
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