Liverpool’s 2025/2026 season has begun in stark contrast to pre-season expectations.
Rather than establishing early control and consistency under Arne Slot, performances have been inconsistent, with rhythm, attacking cohesion, and efficiency fluctuating throughout the opening fixtures.
This instability has extended beyond the team structure; even Mohamed Salah, long Liverpool’s most reliable attacking reference, has endured a rare downturn, registering just four goals and three assists in the first 16 matches.
Compounding these challenges, Slot’s management of Salah’s minutes has sparked debate, while turning recent fixtures into a tactical testing ground.
Salah’s enforced rest disrupted established attacking patterns but also prompted Slot to trial alternative solutions, reshaping roles, spacing, and at times, the front-line structure itself.
These matches played without Salah have provided early insight into Liverpool’s contingency planning.
The issue becomes more pressing during Salah’s absence at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, requiring sustainable, rather than temporary, solutions.
This Liverpool data analysis combines data-led and tactical analysis to explore how Slot may restructure the forward line, focusing on the underperforming Ekitiké–Isak partnership and the potential role of Dominik Szoboszlai as a structural alternative, occupying the right-sided half-spaces Salah typically exploits, ensuring attacking balance in his absence.
Possible Liverpool Lineups Without Salah
In matches where Mohamed Salah was rested rather than injured, Arne Slot treated Liverpool’s line-ups as tactical test cases ahead of more extended absences, such as AFCON.
Liverpool Lineups Without Mohamed Salah
As illustrated in the image, the primary structure tested was a 4-2-3-1, built around an attacking core of Ekitiké leading the line, supported by Wirtz centrally and Gakpo drifting from the left, with Mac Allister and Gravenberch forming the midfield base.
This shape was specifically designed to allow Dominik Szoboszlai to occupy the right-sided half-spaces that Salah typically exploits, providing vertical and lateral coverage in the final third while maintaining central rotation and structural balance.
Although this setup aimed to preserve cohesion and width, its attacking output remained limited.
Nevertheless, Ekitiké’s form has been explosive this season, registering seven goals, demonstrating his potential as a focal point in Liverpool’s attack.
The alternative variation, a 4-3-1-2 with a front two of Isak and Ekitiké, also struggled to gain traction.
Isak’s subdued form since arriving at Liverpool reduced his capacity to consistently threaten the box, while Ekitiké’s movements, although potent, often saw him drift away from high-danger central zones, leaving Liverpool without a fully stable reference point.
Why The Isak–Ekitiké Partnership Has Struggled As A Forward Duo
Alexander Isak suffered an injury this past weekend, the full extent of which is yet to be known.
Isak’s absence will be a big blow for the Reds.
Still, the Isak–Ekitiké partnership has consistently underperformed as Liverpool’s primary attacking duo, primarily due to tactical misalignments and role conflicts.
A clear example can be seen in their Champions League fixture against Inter Milan, as illustrated in the image below.
Liverpool Formation Featuring Isak & Ekitiké As A Strike Partnership
In this match, played without Mohamed Salah, structural issues became particularly evident.
With Robertson and Gomez providing width from full-back positions, and Szoboszlai occupying the right half-space, Ekitiké often drifted away from central, high-danger zones, while Isak remained isolated up front.
Gakpo did not feature in this fixture, which highlighted the imbalance in attacking coverage.
This positional separation disrupted the natural link between the forwards, leading to a lack of coherent movement and reduced attacking penetration.
The result was a fragmented attacking shape that limited goalscoring opportunities.
Recognising these limitations, Arne Slot has frequently opted not to start the duo together, instead favouring alternative structures that better preserve positional discipline and allow Liverpool to maintain verticality and balance in attack.
Dominik Szoboszlai As A Functional Alternative To Salah
Dominik Szoboszlai has emerged as a pivotal figure in Liverpool’s attacking structure, particularly in matches where Mohamed Salah has been absent.
Under normal circumstances, Szoboszlai operates primarily as an advanced central midfielder, linking play between the deeper midfield base and the forward line.
His movements typically involve occupying pockets of space between the lines, offering passing options, and facilitating vertical progression.
However, in fixtures without Salah, such as against Sunderland, Leeds United, and West Ham, Szoboszlai was deployed in a more advanced position on the right half-space that Salah usually occupies.
This tactical shift allowed him to exploit areas of the pitch that combine width and proximity to the final third, effectively acting as a surrogate for Salah’s right-sided influence.
Szoboszlai’s heat map from the first 16 Premier League matches of the 2025/2026 season clearly illustrates this positional adaptation, showing increased activity in the right half-space during the matches Salah missed.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s Heat Map From The First 16 Premier League Matches
This adjustment enabled Liverpool to maintain structural balance, retain verticality, and create new attacking channels despite the absence of their primary winger.
In these scenarios, Szoboszlai also played a central role in build-up play, specifically targeting the right half-space to drive progressive play.
For instance, in Liverpool’s fixture against Sunderland, he consistently positioned himself in this area to receive direct long passes from Van Dijk.
Szoboszolai, During The Build-up, Running Between The Full Back & The Defender
Dominik Szoboszlai has also played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s attacking play in matches when Mohamed Salah is unavailable.
His adaptability and positional awareness have allowed the team to maintain right-sided threat and attacking fluidity.
This was clearly evident in Liverpool’s 3–3 draw against Leeds United, where Szoboszlai regularly occupied the right half-space close to Hugo Ekitiké, positioning himself between the opposition’s full-back and centre-back.
This movement helped form an inverted attacking triangle, with Florian Wirtz drifting from central areas to link up with him.
Structurally, this deployment mirrors the zone typically occupied by Salah, enabling Liverpool to preserve compact attacking connections and fluid rotations in the final third.
Szoboszlai In The Advanced Right-Sided Role During Liverpool’s Attacking Phase
By doing so, Szoboszlai became a focal point for transitioning possession into attacking opportunities, combining positional intelligence with technical execution to partially replicate Salah’s influence and preserve Liverpool’s offensive rhythm in his absence.
Dominik Szoboszlai Expanding Influence On Liverpool Attacking Output In 2025/2026
Dominik Szoboszlai’s contribution to Liverpool’s attacking production during the 2025/2026 season has quietly become one of the most defining elements of Arne Slot’s early tactical framework, particularly in matches where Mohamed Salah has been absent or less central to the attacking structure.
From a creative standpoint, Szoboszlai has emerged as Liverpool’s most reliable chance creator.
Szoboszolai Big Chances Created 2025/2026 – First 16 Games
Across the Premier League campaign so far, he has produced 29 chances created, a figure that places him firmly at the top of Liverpool’s creative hierarchy.
What is especially notable is that 17 of those chances have come from open play, underlining his ability to influence attacking sequences without reliance on set-pieces or transitional chaos.
This reflects a player consistently involved in structured possession, positional rotations, and final-third manipulation rather than isolated moments of brilliance.
His output has translated directly into end product, registering four assists in the league, but the raw assist numbers only partially reflect his overall influence.
Szoboszlai frequently operates as the connective tissue between Liverpool’s build-up and their attacking line, particularly from the right-sided half-space; Salah usually dominates.
From the passing data itself, several patterns stand out.
Szoboszlai consistently posts high pass volumes with strong accuracy, even when deployed across multiple roles, including right-back and deeper midfield zones.
His progressive passing into the final third and penalty area is particularly striking, highlighted by matches against Nottingham Forest and Brentford, where he completed double-digit passes into the final third.
The frequency of accurate long passes and through balls, especially in Champions League fixtures like Eintracht Frankfurt, illustrates his dual role as both a controller and a penetrator, capable of switching play or breaking defensive lines from deeper zones.
His shooting output further reinforces his attacking value.
Dominik Szoboszlai Shot Map & xG Shot Distribution – Premier League 2025/2026 – First 16 Games
Across the Premier League and Champions League combined, Szoboszlai has taken 44 shots, 19 of which were on target, reflecting a willingness to assume responsibility in the final phase.
In the Premier League alone, he attempted 31 shots, scoring two goals from an accumulated xG of 2.15, broadly aligning with expectation.
In Europe, his efficiency rose sharply, scoring three goals from 16 shots, outperforming an xG total of 2.13.
This blend of creative volume and shooting contribution underlines why Szoboszlai has become central to Liverpool’s attacking sustainability during Salah’s absence, offering both structural balance and measurable output.
Conclusion
Liverpool’s early 2025/2026 campaign has exposed the fragility of an attacking model long shaped around Mohamed Salah; it has also revealed the foundations of a necessary tactical evolution under Arne Slot.
The data and tactical evidence suggest that simply replicating Salah’s output through direct replacements is neither realistic nor sustainable.
Instead, Slot’s experimentation points towards structural redistribution rather than like-for-like substitution.
The struggles of the Isak–Ekitiké partnership highlight the risks of destabilising central reference points.
At the same time, Dominik Szoboszlai’s emergence as a right-sided half-space organiser offers a more coherent solution.
His creative volume, progressive passing, and growing shooting responsibility have allowed Liverpool to retain attacking balance, verticality, and unpredictability in Salah’s absence.
As the Africa Cup of Nations approaches, Liverpool’s challenge is no longer about coping temporarily without Salah, but about embedding a flexible attacking framework capable of surviving his absence while maintaining long-term competitiveness.
