Arne Slot acknowledges Liverpool’s striker problem as players are forced into new positions

Arne Slot explained the tactical approach behind Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Real Betis on Friday night, with the head coach using Dominik Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott in unfamiliar forward roles. Szoboszlai’s goal was enough for the Reds to start their three-match tour of the United States with a win at the Acrisure Stadium, and the Hungary captain was used as one of two ‘No. 10” at night with Elliott also cast.

Slot said the decision was made due to a lack of natural strikers in his United States ranks and revealed it will not be a regular tactical call when the Premier League kicks off next week.

“During the season you’ll see us play a true forward, but right now we don’t have one available,” Slot said. “With Dom and Harvey we have two number 10s so we put them in that position and played double 10s.

“It was maybe out of necessity. But in terms of building the game at the back, that’s our style of controlling the game, not giving away constant counter-attacks. There’s a lot of things to improve, but it’s not bad after two weeks.

“There were some positives and some things we need to improve on. We kept a clean sheet and we only had one big chance which was in the last 10 minutes of the game. We controlled the game very well, had some good attacks, created good chances and scored a good goal. Those were the positives.

“We pressed them high and won the ball back many times in their half. We played through their press a few times really well. We also saw moments where we lost the ball too easily or made the wrong choices. It’s normal after two weeks.”

Liverpool will meet Arsenal in Philadelphia on July 31 before a clash with Manchester United on August 3.