Arne Slot discovers ideal £116m playmaking solution: His numbers are off the charts

Wednesday night in the Champions League brought the kind of performance Liverpool have been waiting for.

Needing a positive result in the round-of-16 second leg - following an awful 1-0 loss away to Galatasaray - the six-time European champions pulled out all the stops.

It was arguably their most complete performance under Arne Slot in any match of his tenure to date - a comprehensive 4-0 win that could have been a lot more were it not for Galatasaray’s goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır.

Plenty of Liverpool players reached their highest levels of the season - with Mohamed Salah again utterly dominant.

Slot set his team up in a different manner than he has done in recent weeks and has found the magic formula. In this scenario Salah can move closer to the opposition goal while Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong can play to their strengths as wing-backs.

That - in turn - has had a hugely positive effect on Florian Wirtz.

Arne Slot finds the magic formula for Wirtz

Liverpool have been searching for a formula to unlock the £116m man on a consistent basis. Against Gala - they found it.

On the ball for much of the encounter Liverpool slid into a kind of 3-4-3 formation - with Ryan Gravenberch protecting the centre-backs and the wing-backs high and wide.

With Salah working closely in tandem with Hugo Ekitike on one side it opened a pocket of space for Wirtz to make his mark. Lauded for his work in the “half space” at Bayer Leverkusen Wirtz has been unable to find himself in that goldilocks zone for the Reds.

When he plays centrally he’s TOO central, when he’s on the left he’s TOO wide. But Slot - and Wirtz - got exactly what they needed in midweek.

Wirtz was a player transformed from the first leg where he was ostensibly named in the same position but played far worse. With Kerkez off the leash - and marauding into the Gala half - Wirtz was able to tuck into a left-sided No10 area.

Look at his heatmaps from the first and second legs and you will see the profound difference in his positioning. Slot got him right where he needs him.

Wirtz's numbers are off the charts

He delivered - arguably - his best Liverpool performance to date. His expected goals total climbed from 0.36 to 0.64 and his expected assists rocketed from 0.01 in the first leg to 1.06.

The 22-year-old had four shots rather than three in the first leg and he will know he needs to brush up on his finishing. But he took his playmaking to another level - registering EIGHT key passes as opposed to a big fat zero in the RAMS Arena.

The German international almost doubled his touches - from 47 in Istanbul to 85 at Anfield. He also doubled his successful dribbles from two to four.

Crucially Wirtz carried the ball 23 times compared against a measly seven in the first leg. The carrying distance leapt from only 37.5 metres to a whopping 162.7 metres - emphasising Wirtz’s increasing involvement. All numbers come via SOFASCORE.

Liverpool will be hoping to see more of this formation in the crucial weeks to come. It is working favourably for everyone - not least the playmaker Liverpool spent a huge nine-figure sum to sign.

Now that Slot has figured out how to use him properly he better not err from this path.

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas home range

👉🏻 A new centre-back is COMING to Liverpool

👉🏻 Liverpool finally replace Trent Alexander-Arnold with brilliant playmaker

👉🏻 Centre-back confirms he's ready to join Liverpool