Arne Slot deployed three at the back for only the second time at Liverpool in the first leg defeat in Paris, and the head coach says his approach will ‘not be so different’ at Anfield.
The Reds were pulled into uncomfortable territory at the Parc des Princes, with the man-marking approach combined with a back three seeing Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate drift into midfield.
Liverpool were sliced open by PSG and were flattered by the scoreline, giving them some hope heading into the second leg, and Slot knows his side need to be “very special.”
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“There is a belief that we can do special things tomorrow, but we also need to be very, very, very, very special tomorrow to achieve that, because we’re playing against the champions of Europe,” he said.
As for what will change after a switch to a back three in Paris, Slot surprisingly insisted, “the approach is not so different for tomorrow than it was in Paris.”
He was asked: How different is the approach going to be this time around, from a formation point of view, but also from an attitude point of view as well?
He told reporters: “I know how it works, if you change system, the focus is completely on the system and not about what’s actually happening.
“But people find it probably very hard to believe what I’m going to say now, but the approach is not so different for tomorrow than it was in Paris.
PARIS, FRANCE - Wednesday, April 8, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot and Florian Wirtz after the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Liverpool FC at the Parc des Princes. The game ended 2-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“For the people who know me, I never put out a team and tell them to go to a low block for 90 minutes.
“Actually, if you really look back at the game, you could see that we’ve pressed them high on multiple, multiple, multiple occasions.
“Unfortunately, seven or eight of those moments led to them being one-on-one with our goalkeeper.
“Again, the approach tomorrow will be to take the risk, because that’s first of all what we need, but to get the ball off them, you need to press them. And we saw how difficult it is to press these players.
“But that was the same last season, where Anfield did make a big difference for us, and I’m expecting it to make a big difference for us tomorrow as well.”
Slot’s messaging seemingly comes from a point of view that he will be telling his players to be front-footed and take risks, not sit deep like he perceives his tactics have been interpreted.
They will be qualities Slot stresses he communicates every week, but Liverpool have scarcely shown that this season, and that needs to change if they are to overturn the first leg defeat.
“The last time we faced each other, they had the ball for 76% of the time,” Slot added. “So that’s the first thing we have to change tomorrow, to have the ball more.
“If we have it more, then it’s nice to have attacking threat on the pitch, and that’s what we will have tomorrow.”