Liverpool Formation and Tactics: Slot's 2025/26 4-2-3-1

Liverpool formation — tactical board

How Liverpool's 4-2-3-1 is organised

On paper the shape is a 4-2-3-1: a back four in front of Alisson Becker, a double pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister, an attacking band of Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah, and Hugo Ekitike as the centre-forward. In possession it becomes something closer to a 2-3-5. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté hold the base, Gravenberch stays deep beside them as the single screen, and both full-backs climb, so Liverpool routinely finish a possession with five players occupying the width and the half-spaces of the final third.

Build-up is deliberate. The first pass out of the back is a short one, into Gravenberch in front of the centre-backs or square along the defensive line, rather than a clearance towards the front two. Against man-to-man pressing Gravenberch drops between the centre-backs to make a third builder, and Wirtz comes off the number ten line to overload the middle. Mac Allister takes the forward half of the pivot's work, stepping past Gravenberch to receive between the lines while the six holds the base behind him. The pattern is patient rather than vertical, and possessions are assembled in stages instead of in one pass.

Width is asymmetric. On the right Frimpong plays as an advanced wing-back rather than a full-back, holding the touchline and running beyond Salah so the Egyptian can drift into the inside channel. On the left Kerkez pushes high looking for the byline while Gakpo cuts inside onto his right foot, which empties the flank as often as it creates an overload. Out of possession the attacking band drops into a flat four with Salah stepping up alongside Ekitike, and Gravenberch shuttles across to screen the space Salah has left.

The tactical units

1. Goalkeeper

   On the pitch: Alisson Becker

   Alisson is the starting point of the build-up rather than an escape from it. His first ball is a short one, into a centre-back or into the pivot, which means Liverpool accept a press arriving on their own box in return for keeping the ball. He is asked to defend high behind the line as well, sweeping up the through balls that Liverpool's aggressive positioning invites. He started twenty-six of the thirty-eight league games, with Giorgi Mamardashvili covering most of the rest.

2. Back four

   On the pitch: Milos Kerkez, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté, Jeremie Frimpong

   The line is asymmetric and it defends high. Van Dijk started every league match and Konaté almost as many, getting tight and stepping out together, with Konaté using his pace to recover behind. Kerkez attacks the left touchline. Frimpong sits so far up the right that Liverpool are effectively defending with three when he goes, and Konaté carries the covering burden that creates.

3. Double pivot

   On the pitch: Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister

   Two central midfielders share one deep job and one advanced one. Gravenberch is the designated number six, screening the back four and dropping between the centre-backs when Liverpool are pressed man to man. Mac Allister takes the forward half, stepping past him to receive between the lines and to arrive late in the box. This was much the most frequent pairing of the season, starting twenty-nine of Liverpool's fifty-seven matches, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones the alternatives.

4. Attacking band

   On the pitch: Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah

   Wirtz plays centrally as the number ten, dropping to build and then carrying, and his work is concentrated in the middle of the pitch. Salah stays high on the right before attacking the inside channel; Gakpo starts wide left and cuts in onto his right foot to shoot, and the two of them scored seven league goals apiece. The band flattens into a midfield four out of possession, with Salah leaving it to press.

5. Centre-forward

   On the pitch: Hugo Ekitike

   Ekitike led the line more often than anyone else and was comfortably Liverpool's leading scorer, with eleven league goals and seventeen in all competitions. He is a mobile nine rather than a target man, drifting wide and dropping off to receive instead of waiting for service. His pinning of the centre-backs is what buys space for the wingers coming inside. Alexander Isak, signed from Newcastle United for £125 million, started only eight league games behind him.

Key player relationships

Alisson Becker → Ryan Gravenberch — Builds play through

The first pass out of the goalkeeper is a short one rather than a clearance, so Gravenberch's job is to be available for it in front of the centre-backs. That makes Alisson a genuine outfield option in the first phase rather than a release valve.

Milos Kerkez → Cody Gakpo — Overlaps

Kerkez attacks the left touchline, reaches the byline and cuts the ball back. When Gakpo receives inside him the overlap is meant to drag the opposing full-back wide and open the shooting angle Gakpo prefers. When Gakpo comes inside too early instead, the run outside him has no target.

Virgil van Dijk ↔ Ibrahima Konaté — Holds line with

Slot's high line only functions if both centre-backs step and hold together. Van Dijk reads the moment to push up and follow a forward, Konaté supplies the recovery pace behind it, and the offside trap is set jointly rather than by one man.

Virgil van Dijk → Jeremie Frimpong — Switches long to

Van Dijk's long diagonal is Liverpool's cleanest way of skipping a congested midfield. With Frimpong holding the far touchline, the switch arrives at the one player already beyond the opposition press and already facing the space in behind.

Ibrahima Konaté → Jeremie Frimpong — Covers

Frimpong plays so high that the right flank is often empty behind him, and Konaté is the man who slides across to cover it. It is the most demanding job in the back four, and it is the space opponents aim for when Liverpool lose the ball high up the pitch.

Jeremie Frimpong → Mohamed Salah — Runs beyond

Frimpong is a wing-back rather than a creator, so he overlaps early and runs past Salah instead of waiting behind him. That vacates the inside channel Salah wants and forces the opposing full-back to choose between the ball and the run.

Ryan Gravenberch → Virgil van Dijk — Drops between

Against man-to-man pressing Liverpool's pivot gets marked out of the game, so Gravenberch drops between Van Dijk and Konaté to make a temporary back three. It creates a spare passer, but it also empties the space directly in front of the defence.

Ryan Gravenberch ↔ Alexis Mac Allister — Rotates with

The pivot is never flat for long. Gravenberch holds the base in front of the centre-backs while Mac Allister advances, and the two trade those heights according to where the ball is. It is Mac Allister who takes the forward half, with Gravenberch the fixed reference at the base.

Ryan Gravenberch → Mohamed Salah — Screens behind

Salah stays high on the right to press and to be an outlet, so the zone in front of Liverpool's right-back belongs to Gravenberch, who shuttles across to screen it. When he is dragged elsewhere, opponents attack that seam with third-man passes.

Alexis Mac Allister ↔ Florian Wirtz — Switches with

Wirtz drops out of the number ten line to make an extra builder and Mac Allister steps up into the space he leaves. The swap keeps a body between the opposition's lines without losing one in the first phase, so the same players build the move and then threaten the box.

Florian Wirtz → Cody Gakpo — Frees

Wirtz occupies the left half-space that Gakpo used to fill when he was the side's central creator. Relieved of that job, Gakpo can attack the box and shoot rather than build, which puts him nearer the goal than the first phase.

Florian Wirtz ↔ Hugo Ekitike — Links play

This is the central attacking combination the shape is built to produce. Ekitike drops off the centre-backs to receive, Wirtz arrives behind him, and the two exchange the ball quickly in the space between the opposition's midfield and defence before anyone can step out to it.

Mohamed Salah ↔ Hugo Ekitike — Presses with

Out of possession the attacking band flattens and Salah steps up alongside Ekitike, so Liverpool press with a front two. The pair split the centre-backs and force the ball into a wide area, which is where Liverpool want the first tackle to happen.

Hugo Ekitike → Cody Gakpo — Creates space for

Ekitike's first job is occupying both centre-backs, and he does it while drifting across the width of the final third. Every metre he pulls them is a metre for Gakpo cutting in from the left, or for Kerkez arriving outside him.

Tactical strengths

• Building short from the goalkeeper gives Liverpool an extra body in the first phase, and the pivot dropping in turns the base into a three whenever it is needed.
• The pivot's one-up-one-down split keeps a screen in front of the centre-backs while still sending a runner into the box from the right half-space.
• Wirtz can drop into the midfield line and then carry forward himself, so Liverpool progress the ball centrally without needing a wide overload.
• Frimpong's width on the right stretches a back four on its own, which frees Salah to work in the inside channel instead of hugging the touchline.
• Ekitike's movement across the whole final third occupies both centre-backs and manufactures the space Liverpool's inverted wingers finish from.
• Van Dijk started all thirty-eight league matches and remained a scoring threat as well as the line's organiser, with six league goals from centre-back.

Tactical weaknesses

• Insisting on short build-up against a man-to-man press invites turnovers on the edge of Liverpool's own box, where a single misplaced pass is a chance conceded.
• With Salah pressing ahead of the ball and Frimpong high on the touchline, the seam in front of Liverpool's right-back is the most reliable route into their defence.
• Committing five players to the final third leaves too few behind it, and Liverpool lost nineteen of their fifty-seven matches in all competitions.
• The left side lacks a repeatable pattern: Gakpo's habit of cutting inside cancels the overlap Kerkez runs outside him, so the flank empties as often as it overloads.
• The right-back slot was never resolved: Frimpong started there sixteen times across all competitions, Conor Bradley thirteen, and Dominik Szoboszlai was pushed into it ten times out of position.

Famous tactical characteristics

Short goal kicks and a patient first phase

Liverpool build out rather than over the press. Alisson plays short into a centre-back or into Gravenberch, and the side accepts a press arriving on its own eighteen-yard line in exchange for possession higher up the pitch. Gravenberch dropping between the centre-backs turns the base into a three, which frees both full-backs to leave the line and the ten to drop in beside him. The trade is control in the first phase against exposure in front of goal.

A pivot that splits its duties

Rather than two interchangeable holders, Slot used one screen and one runner inside a single possession. Gravenberch stays deep to service the centre-backs and drops into the back line against man-marking, while Mac Allister pushes up onto Wirtz's shoulder and into the box. The two started twenty-nine of Liverpool's fifty-seven matches together, more than twice as often as any other combination in that area.

Pressing with a front two

Out of possession the 4-2-3-1 becomes a 4-4-2. Salah steps up beside Ekitike so the pair can split the centre-backs and shepherd the ball into a wide area, where the touchline does half of the defending for them. Wirtz shifts across to the ball side to cut off the return pass into midfield, and the pivot slides with him. The trigger is the pass that forces a centre-back to turn and play under pressure.

An asymmetric right side

Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure to Real Madrid changed the geometry of Liverpool's right flank entirely. Frimpong is a wing-back who overlaps and runs in behind rather than a deep creator who crosses, so the width now comes from the defender and the creation from Salah and Wirtz inside him. It is the clearest structural difference between this Liverpool and the title-winning version.

Wirtz at ten, and the squeeze behind him

Installing a hundred-million-pound number ten left four established midfielders competing for three central slots. Gravenberch and Mac Allister kept the pivot, so the squeeze showed instead in Szoboszlai, the squad's second most-used starter with fifty-three, who spent the season moving between the ten, the right wing and right-back. Wirtz himself started twenty-seven league games without ever settling.

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Related formations

• Manchester United Formation and Carrick's Tactics

  English football's fiercest rivalry, and a direct comparison of how two rebuilt Premier League squads are organised.

• Manchester City Formation: Guardiola's 4-2-3-1

  Liverpool's closest rival in possession football, and the reference point for the inverted full-backs this shape omits.

• Borussia Dortmund Formation: Kovač's 3-4-2-1

  Jürgen Klopp's old club, and a contrast with the more patient possession game Liverpool played under Slot.

Frequently asked questions

What formation does Liverpool play?

Liverpool played a 4-2-3-1 through Arne Slot's second season, 2025/26, lining up in that shape in forty-six of their fifty-seven matches. In possession it became closer to a 2-3-5, with both full-backs high and five players across the front, and it flattened into a 4-4-2 when the team pressed.

Who was Liverpool's manager in 2025/26?

Arne Slot, who took charge in June 2024 and won the Premier League in his first season. The club announced his departure on 30 May 2026, after Liverpool finished fifth with no silverware, and Andoni Iraola was appointed as his successor on 4 June 2026.

Why did Liverpool struggle in 2025/26?

Liverpool finished fifth on sixty points and lost nineteen of their fifty-seven matches in all competitions. The problems were largely structural: an unsettled right-back slot, a first phase that invited pressure onto its own box, and too little cover behind a front five that committed early.