Mohamed Salah was desperate to score when he came on(Image: Getty Images)
Having committed up to £241m in transfer fees to sign Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in the summer, it's fair to say the grand plan for the pair has been slow to reveal itself.
In the 810 minutes Liverpool have now played since Isak signed at the start of September, excluding stoppage time, the attackers have been on the pitch together for just 266.
Clearly Isak's fitness issues - having not had a pre-season at Newcastle - have contributed to that, while Wirtz has had some difficulty adapting totally to the sheer ferocity of Premier League football so far.
But on a night when both were picked to do the damage against an Eintracht Frankfurt side who have now shipped 15 in their three Champions League games this term, Isak was unable to decisively contribute and lasted just 45 minutes.
OPINION
The Sweden international had two sighters of goal, both came at 0-0. One was smothered by goalkeeper Michael Zetterer from Dominik Szoboszlai's clipped pass before another shot from a tighter angle was parried for a corner.
His night ended after 45 minutes, which was enough time for him to pick up a groin problem that Liverpool are now sweating on. That has to be a major concern at this stage given the end of the October international break was being viewed as the line in the sand for when the £125m frontman was being considered 100%.
In contrast, Wirtz enjoyed a much more productive outing, creating an assist for Cody Gakpo in the second half with a perfectly-weighted pass for the Dutchman to tap home inside the six-yard box. Another in the assist column arrived when his sideways pass for Szoboszlai was planted into the bottom corner from 20-plus yards for 5-1.
Wirtz was guilty of losing the ball too cheaply for the counter-attack that brought the opening goal for Dino Toppmoller's side but this was his best night in a Liverpool shirt and could be a real platform to build on going forward.
**Salah desperation clear**
As Liverpool continued to carve open their hosts almost at will in Deutsche Bank Park, Mohamed Salah will have been kicking his heels on the bench in desperation.
And by the time he arrived on the pitch, with the score at 5-1, that desperation became obvious.
It's unclear if Salah was aware that Szoboszlai's strike was the 23rd Frankfurt concession in just six games but the Egyptian was sent out with the sole aim of scoring his way back into confidence.
The strike that was saved by goalkeeper Zetterer was a waste with Wirtz waiting unmarked yards out for his first Liverpool strike and the greatest goalscorer of Anfield's modern era then wasted another decent chance, thrashing wide moments later.
It was evidence of someone trying a bit too hard to shake off a malaise that instead only goes on and it's fair to say the No.11 was left frustrated by another blank after the full-time whistle, despite the result itself.
It was clear the forward, who has just two goals this term and one from open play, was on a mission to get his own name on the scoresheet after being moved to the bench as Slot sought a winning formula after four straight defeats.
Talk of a Liverpool crisis might quieten for the rest of the week at least but Salah was unable to provide the sort of contribution that would have turned down the debate around his own campaign.
It will surely come, in time, but Liverpool's return to form here in Germany means Slot's decision to leave him on the bench was vindicated.
**Jones provides the poise**
In a season that has been characterised by a baffling lack of control, it was left to Curtis Jones to inject some much-needed poise into the midfield engine room.
Alongside Dominik Szbosozlai in a two-man pivot, the Liverpool-born midfielder was excellent and often a step or two ahead of his opposite numbers in his thinking.
One dummy with his back to goal in the second half allowed Andy Robertson to play the give-and-go which bamboozled Ritsu Doan to the point where he was forced to simply haul back Jones and go into the referee's book as a result.
The 24-year-old completed 122 of 127 passes, which was the most by a Liverpool player on record in the Champions League since Opta started collecting such data in 2003. With Ryan Gravenberch nursing an ankle issue, Jone gave a timely reminder of the midfield depth available to Slot.
And having been grounded on Merseyside for hours over a technical issue with their aircraft on Tuesday, Liverpool might just have seen their season take flight in Germany.