How Liverpool could line up with Xabi Alonso’s favoured 3-4-2-1: No Salah, Wirtz main man… | OneFootball

It’s been a wild 2025-26 campaign so far, with Liverpool and Real Madrid‘s struggles leading to the distinct possibility that both clubs could change manager, meaning Xabi Alonso could potentially be available for an unlikely return to Merseyside.

All the noises out of Liverpool suggest that the board are backing Arne Slot. But if results don’t pick up, that may well change. Champions League qualification is surely the minimum of the club’s ambitions, given the financial implications, and the club might act if that looks in serious danger.

Meanwhile, reports out of Madrid suggest that Alonso is one defeat away from the sack. Could he end up back at Anfield sooner rather than later?

Here’s how we think Liverpool could line up in Alonso’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation.

GK: Alisson

No changes here. No matter the shift of system in front of him, Alisson undoubtedly remains Liverpool’s No.1.

The idea might be for Giorgi Mamardashvili to one day succeed the Brazilian as the Reds’ first-choice goalkeeper between the sticks, but we’re still a few years off that yet. No matter who the coach is.

CB: Joe Gomez

The long-serving defender would likely get more gametime in the event of a change in the dugout, given he’s currently Liverpool’s only other fit and available centre-back. Gomez’s ability to start games every week is an admittedly awkward question here.

A long-term plan might be to integrate the talented Italian Giovanni Leoni once he returns from his ACL layoff. Still, the shift to a back three would also demand further defensive reinforcements in the transfer market (if that’s not already the case).

Marc Guehi, for what it’s worth, has plenty of experience playing in a back three under Oliver Glasner. One to revisit in January?

CB: Virgil Van Dijk

It hasn’t been a glittering campaign for Liverpool’s usually imperious captain, but a change in formation might help compensate for his advancing years.

Think Thiago Silva in Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea back three. Van Dijk can still be an inspirational leader at the back for years to come with sufficient cover around him.

CB: Ibrahima Konate

Van Dijk’s struggles this season have been nothing compared to his centre-back partner. Konate has been culpable with costly mistakes almost every week.

“Unfortunately for him, he does a lot of things well, but he has been a bit too much at the crime scene, that is something I’ve heard people saying before in England,” admitted Arne Slot after the France international’s particularly poor display in the 3-3 draw with Leeds.

You imagine he’d have been taken out of the firing line if Liverpool had more defensive cover, but needs must.

Perhaps a change to a back three would be best for Konate, offering extra protection for a player who looks fragile and low on confidence right now.

RWB: Jeremie Frimpong

And so we move on to a key area of Alonso’s favoured formation.

There are serious question marks to be asked of Liverpool’s recruitment, replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold with one of the most attacking full-backs in Europe – Frimpong looks more akin to a winger than a traditional full-back, as was the case with his wingback role for Alonso’s Leverkusen.

It’s been a frustrating, injury-hit start to life for Frimpong in Merseyside, but he’s looked an awkward fit when available.

Having such an attack-minded player behind Mohamed Salah, who famously contributes little defensively, was a bold call.

The headache of getting Frimpong and Salah to work in tandem may well resolve itself soon enough. Alonso’s system would surely have no natural place for Liverpool’s Egyptian King, but it’s proven to get the best out of Frimpong.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch

It’s strange to think now that Gravenberch only played a relatively bit-part role in his debut season with Liverpool, only starting 12 Premier League games as Jurgen Klopp struggled to find a place for him.

Now he’s among the first names on the teamsheet, Slot’s inspired decision to turn him into a defensive midfielder proving transformative in their title charge.

There’s no reason why he couldn’t be just as effective, playing the same role but with a different shape around him.

CM: Dominik Szoboszlai

Surely Liverpool’s player of the season so far, Szoboszlai’s engine, work rate and versatility make him a dream player for any coach.

Using such a dynamic, industrious player – ala Granit Xhaka in Alonso’s Bundesliga-winning midfield – seems the most natural fit.

But Szoboszlai has also demonstrated he could be just as effective in a more advanced position, as he’s recently demonstrated in Slot’s dalliance with the midfield diamond.

Playing the Hungarian further up would also give Alonso the option of deploying Curtis Jones or Alexis Mac Allister in the engine room.

LWB: Milos Kerkez

Frimpong has raised eyebrows on one wing. And the same can certainly be said of Kerkez on the other.

The Hungarian has struggled badly in his first half-season at Liverpool, looking overeager and defensively erratic. But there was a reason Liverpool signed him; at Bournemouth he proved he can thrive in the Premier League. Don’t write him off just yet.

We won’t pretend to be the most sophisticated tacticos here at Planet Football – we’ll leave that to the experts on Twitter – but from our layman’s understanding, Kerkez’s particular bombing-forward style looks well-suited to a wingback role.

Andrew Robertson – and Conor Bradley on the opposite flank – would offer alternative, more defensively sturdy profiles.

They might be able to shut a game down as wingbacks, but you’d imagine they might struggle to offer the requisite penetration and creativity.

AMC: Florian Wirtz

Wirtz’s struggles have arguably been overstated.

Yes, his numbers leave a lot to be desired. But he’s shown more than enough flashes of quality, in an otherwise dysfunctional and underperforming team, to suggest he’ll come good.

He kind of needs to. Liverpool have bet their future on the German playmaker. After six months of adapting to a more physical league, Wirtz would have no excuses if he reunites with the manager who turned him into a £100million superstar.

Like Frimpong, we have proof of exactly how good Wirtz can be under this manager, in this system. As plug-and-play as it gets.

AMC: Cody Gakpo

This is the one area of this XI that doesn’t have an obvious answer.

Nominally a right winger, Jonas Hofmann tended to play this role, in the advanced two alongside Wirtz, in Alonso’s double-winning, domestically invincible Leverkusen side. Gakpo would probably be the closest analogue to that in this Liverpool squad.

Playing in a kind of support striker role with an overlapping wingback might suit Gakpo, who is among those who have struggled the most for form under Slot this season.

The good news for Alonso if Gakpo continued failing to deliver, he’d have no shortage of alternative options. Hugo Ekitike, Federico Chiesa, Rio Ngumoha and the aforementioned Szoboszlai could all conceivably fill this spot on the teamsheet.

The elephant in the room is that it’s difficult to see Salah there, and certainly not as a wingback. A change in manager during AFCON might not be the silver bullet he’s hoping for.

ST: Alexander Isak

Failing to get the best out of a colossal £125million investment might well be what costs Slot his job in the end.

It’s imperative that the Premier League’s all-time record signing starts showing some signs of cohesion with his new team-mates, let alone ultimately deliver the goals his price tag demands.

The Liverpool hierarchy evidently see Isak and Wirtz as two key pillars of the club’s future. They wouldn’t have shelled out north of £200million otherwise.