Analysis: Arne Slot’s ‘Genius’ Tactical Tweak Against Everton Could be a Sign of What’s to Come at Liverpool | OneFootball

Arne Slot Made an Interesting Tweak in Liverpool’s 1-0 Victory Over Everton

Liverpool took a huge step towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over their nearest rivals Everton in the Merseyside Derby. It was a tight game, but a dazzling second-half goal from Diogo Jota was enough to secure the three points for Arne Slot’s side.

The victory restores Liverpool’s 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with just eight games to go. Four more wins is all that is needed for Slot’s men and they’re currently on track to seal the title against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday 27th April.

Photo: IMAGO

Winning at all Costs

We’re now at the point of the season where it’s not necessarily about how you win your games, you just have to find ways to do so and Liverpool have been doing that all season.

However, there was one hugely intriguing aspect of Slot’s starting lineup that happens to be incredibly relevant at the moment. That was, of course, the decision to play midfielder Curtis Jones at right-back in place of the injured Conor Bradley and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Centre-back Jarell Quansah had filled in for the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley, but Jones was the preferred choice against Everton.

It was a gritty performance from the Reds but one that often resembles true champions, but Jones was certainly one of the standout players with a little bit of help from Slot himself.

Photo: IMAGO

Slot’s Tactical Tweak

Nobody expected Jones to be able to match Trent Alexander-Arnold’s creativity and passing range or Conor Bradley’s explosive runs and crunching tackles and neither did Slot. Instead the local lad picked up a completely different role, vaguely similar stylistically to how Eduardo Camavinga sometimes slots in at left-back for Real Madrid.

On the ball, Liverpool were still finding Jones in gaps that he would usually take up in his usual midfield position rather than at right-back. Ryan Gravenberch played a huge role in making this happen, especially in the first-half.

Photo: IMAGO

The Dutchman was almost playing as a right-back himself in the build-up phase, giving Jones time to take up threatening positions close to Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai further up the pitch. You can almost think of it as giving a head start to Jones, who lacks the explosiveness to make those runs from deep like Bradley.

Off the ball, Jones was more of your natural right-back and was mostly asked to deal with long-balls at the back post, which he did with ease thanks to his incredible first touch.

Photo: IMAGO

Looking Ahead

Now, no one is expecting Jones to be a solid option at right-back going into next season when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s reported move to Real Madrid will likely be confirmed. But, the point still stands – it’s impossible to replace Trent.

Liverpool are far more likely to find a new style of right-back that can complement and rotate with Bradley and that player will almost certainly not be Jones but we may have seen some slight hints at what we could expect from Slot next season.

Names like Jeremie Frimpong, Martim Fernandes and even former Red Neco Williams have all been linked with a move to Anfield, but I think we could be set for a few surprises in that position.