‘Even I was surprised how good Luis Diaz was as a No. 9!’ – Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admits even he was surprised how well Luis Diaz did as an experimental centre-forward.

The Colombia international scored his first hat-trick for the club in the 4-0 Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen after starting the game as a false nine.

Slot has already tried a number of variations up front, changing from his preferred centre-forward due to an injury to Diogo Jota to line up with a false nine and, on one occasion two false nines.

Diaz responded to his first outing through the middle with an performance against the Bundesliga champions which exceeded Slot’s expectations.

“Lucho did really well and if was, even for me, maybe a bit of a surprise to see how well he did,” he said.

“I played him there for a reason, I expected him to do good but that he played so well that was even a surprise for me.”

Darwin Nunez is his only fit genuine No. 9 as Jota is out with an impact injury to his upper body, but the Uruguay international has not started every game in his absence.

With summer signing Federico Chiesa also sidelined it means Slot has had to be more creative with his formation and that looks set to continue.

“When we had Darwin and Diogo available we always played one of those two,” he added.

“To be honest I liked especially the last idea, I think every Liverpool supporter did with Lucho scoring three goals, two as a nine and one as a winger, so that is always interesting to see, but Lucho is also a very good left winger.

“At this moment we have four attackers available for three positions so we could come up with another idea again but if Diogo comes back and Darwin is back then we have two No. 9s available again.”

Diaz has nine goals already this season, a tally it took him until mid-February last season to reach and is due in part to an improvement in his conversion rate from nine percent to 29 percent.

“That’s what we all see, that he has better numbers than last season,” said Slot.

“If Diogo is playing he scores, if Darwin is playing he scores, if Lucho is playing as a left winger he scores but Cody [Gakpo] also scores if he is playing as a left winger.

“That tells me that the team is providing goals for these great individuals and these players all have the qualities, that’s why they play for Liverpool.”

Another of the players thriving under Slot is academy graduate Curtis Jones, who has been included in the England squad for this month’s Nations League matches.

The 23-year-old became a father for the first time last month and Slot has noticed a change in the player.

“You never know if that plays a part or not,” he said ahead of the visit of Aston Villa.

“He already did this in the first few weeks that we worked together in pre-season – I was like ‘phwoar, quality player’ but then his performances dropped.

“But since the moment he became a father he was outstanding again, and I think it might have to do a bit with that but in general I think it has to do with how the team plays because every player who comes in has a good performance.”

Liverpool’s eight wins, a draw and one defeat has them top of the table heading into the weekend but Slot is not getting carried away.

“I am not trying to manage expectations within the squad because we don’t talk about them. The only expectation I have is for them to put the same effort in every day,” said the head coach.

“I’m not asking them to win every game but I’m asking them to put effort in on a daily basis.”