After Liverpool eked out a 1-0 win in Paris against the incredibly in-form PSG, it was universally agreed that Liverpool were fortuitous to come away with a positive result.
Digging into their own half in an attempt to frustrate the PSG attack, the Parisians found a way around the Liverpool back line consistently, requiring Alisson Becker to post a world class performance before Harvey Elliott scored a stunning 87th minute winner to snatch an away a win.
It’s clear that Liverpool must be better than they were last week if they want to advance to the next round of Champions League competition, so what are three concrete things Liverpool can do to ensure a better performance in the reverse fixture at Anfield?
3. A return to the Mo Salah we’re all used to seeing
Liverpool have made it clear that Mo Salah is the most important figure in their attack this season, and simply put, he was essentially a total non-factor when these teams met in the French capital.
Slot’s approach to the game may not have permitted Salah to be at his marauding best anyways, but he still struggled to capitalize on the few chances he had—most notably when he rushed a pass to Darwin Núñez that was immediately intercepted on a late-game odd-man rush.
Salah caught a lot of heat for that performance on social media, and in addition to the new preposterous claims that he is a “penalty merchant,” I would love to see Salah silence his critics against the Parisians at Anfield. I think he will.
As I mentioned earlier, Salah is a player who excels when he gets the ball delivered to him in space, and for as strong as PSG are right now, they actually rank in the bottom three amongst Ligue 1 clubs for the most defensive interceptions per game.
Given that the PSG defense usually doesn’t need to worry about cutting off passes, Salah could take great advantage of this by consistently making runs behind the defense instead of the more reserved version of him we saw last time.
Salah is capable of making magic at any moment on the pitch when he has the opportunity, and I have a strong feeling that the Egyptian King will return to his ruthless self back at Anfield.
2. Shutting down Ousmane Dembélé
While Salah was quiet for much of the first leg, his PSG winger counterpart Ousmane Dembélé was very much not, as he consistently gave the Liverpool defense problems to deal with.
He frequently went around players like they weren't there, and the combination of his speed and dribbling skills nearly led to goals on multiple occasions.
Dembélé has now reached the 20 goal mark in Ligue 1, slowly making his way up Europe’s top scorers list. While his excellent form is indeed frightening, Liverpool can make sure that he becomes a much more muted presence compared to their clash last week.
The Frenchman frequently hugged the touchlines before dribbling around players, taking advantage of tight areas like a basketball player would manipulate the baseline.
Instead, Liverpool can invite Dembélé into more open areas of the pitch, forcing him to encounter more defenders and attempt to cut through a sea of bodies rather than allowing him to excel in 1v1’s in close corners.
Given how good Liverpool have been in the middle of the pitch through center halves Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté and central defensive midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, these players would posture to have a better chance of closing down Dembélé compared to what Alexis Mac Allister and Andy Robertson were able to do in their attempts to make him uncomfortable.
Dembélé has become the type of player teams need to prepare for before games, but I believe that Liverpool’s defense can keep him contained much more successfully when compared to the game at the Parc de Princes.
1. Approaching the game from a more balanced tactical stance
It certainly seems that Arne Slot is a manager who will see out his preordained game plan all the way through a match, which has undoubtedly done him well in his first year as Liverpool manager.
However, Slot must know how close his philosophy of dropping back to defend and hitting the counterattack was to backfiring in the first leg.
I believe that Slot will learn from that experience and encourage his players to play the possession based football that has become a trademark of his managerial style.
Yes, Liverpool had massive success playing a defensive-minded game against Manchester City, but given that statistics show Liverpool could have easily lost last week’s clash against PSG 3-0, Slot must consider changing tactics for Tuesday.
Liverpool play with the fourth-highest average ball possession amongst Premier League clubs this season, a playing style that has greatly complimented their fluid, highly-skilled passers such as Trent-Alexander Arnold and players such as Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai who excel in exploiting gaps in oppositions’ defenses.
PSG are a team that are enjoying one of the best spells in their attacking play in Europe, made clear when they thrashed their Ligue 1 rivals Brest by a 10-0 aggregate in the UCL play-in; this is something that must be accounted for more seriously this time around.
While they were lucky that their last-ditch defending and Alisson’s heroics were enough to get the job done last time around, Liverpool can put themselves in great position to go through against PSG if they return to a tactical approach that has done them right all season long.