Crisis? What crisis?
Liverpool have been enduring their worst run under Arne Slot since he took charge last year. But their run of four successive defeats is over after a 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night.
Eintracht took a shock lead against the Premier League champions against the run of play as Rasmus Kristensen rounded off an impressive passing move.
But Liverpool finally got back in the game with former Eintracht man Hugo Ekitike netting the equaliser. The Reds had five different scorers on the night, with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai all contributing to the victory.
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How did Liverpool beat Frankfurt?
Slot goes with attacking lineup
Liverpool looked like they might be deploying a traditional 4-4-2, with Alexander Isak playing up front alongside Ekitike.
Indeed Slot appeared to be going with that formation out of possession. But on the ball Liverpool looked to be reverting to a back three — allowing more of their attacking talent to get involved in the play.
The Dutch boss was bold with his lineup, also playing Gakpo and Florian Wirtz in behind. Dominik Szoboszlai was also present in midfield to add even more creative ability in the middle of the park.
Add that to the pace of Jeremie Frimpong and Liverpool boasted enough attacking riches to run riot in Germany if they hit top gear. Which they did, and then some.
Liverpool ripped through Eintracht with 18 shots, 14 of which were on target. In truth, it could and should have been more.
Liverpool recover after nervy start
It’s no secret that Liverpool have not been sound defensively this season. And they have been left vulnerable after four defeats in all competitions.
They certainly looked like a wounded animal when they went 1-0 down inside the first 26 minutes. Rasmus Kristensen fired in the opener after questionable defending from sub Conor Bradley, who had been caught out of position.
Kristensen was found with acres of space and then managed to arrow his shot through a sea of Liverpool players.
It meant that Liverpool have now kept just two clean sheets in their last 18 games in all competitions. In that same time frame, they’ve let in 28 goals — so it’s not just a problem confined to this season.
They conceded just one shot in the first half and Frankfurt only had four touches in their box, but were still able to cut Liverpool open and take the lead.
Luckily for Liverpool, they rallied quickly before easing their way to a 3-1 first-half lead — and then ran riot by the end of the final whistle.
Ekitike comes back to haunt Frankfurt
All eyes were on the 23-year-old Frenchman as he made his return to Deutsche Bank Park after his £79million move to Anfield this summer.
The forward has impressed with four goals in all competitions since his big move to Liverpool. And he continued his solid season by finishing superbly from a one-on-one situation against his old side.
After the ball was threaded in to the striker, he had plenty of work to do as he raced through on goal with only the keeper to beat. But he stayed cool, calm and collected before rolling the ball into the corner.
He refused to celebrate out of respect for Frankfurt despite the crucial strike giving Liverpool much needed momentum to get back into the contest.
Ekitike became the first ever player to score both for and against Eintracht in a major European competition with his opening goal.
He had another big chance from close range in the second half but saw the effort spurned by Frankfurt ‘keeper Michael Zetterer. Ekitike finished with a shooting accuracy of 66.67%, while also completing two of his three attempted take-ons.
Wirtz has lift-off
It’s been a difficult season for Wirtz, who has struggled to justify the £116.5m transfer fee so far.
He’s retained the faith of Slot by starting seven games in all competitions, but there has been concern about his inability to adjust to England after failing to contribute to a single goal this season in 10 matches.
The German international has been mocked by rival fans this season. But he finally has something to smile about, grabbing his first two assists for Liverpool in just four second-half minutes against Frankfurt.
First, he supplied Gakpo for a simple tap-in, before laying the ball off for Szoboszlai to fire home Liverpool’s fifth.
Wirtz created a total of four chances, completing 19 of his attempted 24 attempted final third passes. He also had 78 touches in the 90 minutes and playing 11 forward passes all in all.
It wasn’t a world class display by any means. But it will give the 22-year-old all the encouragement he needs to push on from here.