Wingers are missing: Slot flags Liverpool's problem ahead of another Wolves tie

For Slot, that problem has been running through the Reds' season, and not just theirs. It is becoming a wider Premier League trend.

Last year, Liverpool's title charge was built from the flanks. Cody Gakpo scored 10 league goals, Mohamed Salah delivered 29, while eight of Luis Diaz's 13 came from the left wing.

This season tells a different story.

With Diaz gone and Liverpool's attack reshaped around central strikers Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, the goals from wide areas have dried up. Gakpo has scored just three times in 18 league games, while Salah's equaliser at Wolves ended an 11-match drought in the Premier League.

Between them, they have produced only nine assists. Last season, Salah alone managed 18.

Yet Slot insists the issue is not simply about the personnel ahead of another clash between Liverpool and Wolverhampton, only this time in the FA Cup (Friday, 11 pm).

"It's not only about the individual," he explained. "If we don't create enough from the sides, maybe we're not switching the play quickly enough or putting our wingers in the right situations."

The Liverpool boss even suggested the problem goes beyond Anfield.

"Show me which teams are doing it much better than us," he said. "I can show you one in La Liga, where Lamine Yamal plays, but even there I didn't see many chances created from wide areas in the games I watched."

For the Reds' boss, modern defending is the biggest obstacle.

"There are 10 big athletes defending around the box. The spaces are so small. Being a winger today is probably the hardest position in football."

That reality, he says, has reshaped the position itself. Traditional wingers attacking the outside are becoming rarer, replaced by inverted forwards cutting inside.

"Back in the day, you had a right-footer on the right and a left-footer on the left because you could go outside and cross," Slot said. "Now defenders are so fast that it's much harder."

Jeremie Frimpong, who returned to the starting XI against Wolves after injury, is one of the few exceptions.

"He's someone who still tries to go around the outside," Slot added. "But to do that today, you have to be incredibly quick."

Liverpool have also faced criticism this season for their slow starts, particularly away from Anfield. Slot rejects the idea that his teams lack attacking intent.

"I've always been an attacking manager," he said. "My teams usually score among the most goals. This season is the exception."

But the Dutchman believes the modern Premier League leaves little margin for fluid attacking football.

"It's very hard to create tempo if the opponent doesn't want tempo," Slot added. "Everyone is physical, everyone is organised. We are not the only team struggling with that."

And at Wolves, Slot admits, Liverpool felt it too.

FA CUP - ROUND OF 16

Friday

23.00: (6.00) Wolverhampton (4.65) Liverpool (1.53)

Saturday

15.15: (25.0) Mansfield (13.0) Arsenal (1.07)

20.45: (7.00) Wrexham (4.85) Chelsea (1.42)

23.00: (3.40) Newcastle (3.75) Man City (2.05)

Sunday

15.00: (1.55) Fulham (4.20) Southampton (5.90)

16.30: (7.75) Port Vale (4.50) Sunderland (1.42)

19.30: (1.45) Leeds (4.65) Norwich (6.50)

Monday

22.30: (2.95) West Ham (3.45) Brentford (2.35)

***odds are subject to change***