I didn't agree with Arne Slot but his controversial Liverpool decision could now pay off

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

I’ve followed Liverpool for decades and seen them win trophies at home and in Europe, but one of my favourite ever days was seeing the kids help beat Chelsea in the League Cup final at Wembley two seasons ago.READ MORE: Liverpool get injury boost for Real Madrid as Alexander Isak update emergesREAD MORE: Virgil van Dijk responds to Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool return - 'I'm not going to say'I also won the competition as a player with Oxford United, so it has a special meaning for me. And as a player, I can assure you the first-team regulars would sooner have had 30 minutes from the bench rather than a training session.Mind you, it’s not as if the first-choice team has had any better luck against Palace in recent times having lost to them twice already this season.It meant the pressure was on to deliver against Aston Villa at the weekend.

So it was a good time for Liverpool to return more to the form of last season with a much-needed victory.The fact Villa tried to play out from the back in a manner in which teams used to against Liverpool is a principle of their manager Unai Emery, and he wasn’t going to change that.But there’s no doubt it suited us. Villa are a good team and hit the post a couple of times – Morgan Rogers is a fine player, by the way – but we got to grips with matters a lot better.Defensively we looked more solid, and that perhaps came from the midfield returning to what it was last season and holding their positions more often defensively.Alexis Mac Allister had his best game of the season and looked more like his old self, while the trio of the Argentina international, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai all know where each other is going to be and what they are going to do.The balancing act of when to drop deeper and when to press takes time to bed in, and it seemed at times the two deeper midfielders positioned themselves nearer the centre-backs to offer greater protection.Slot knew there needed to be a reaction after losing in midweek with the second team, and by going back to what he knows he has eased the pressure.

For now.Mo the magician againWhen Mohamed Salah is in the kind of form he showed against Aston Villa, there is simply no team that can stop him.The Liverpool forward was in a ridiculous mood on Saturday. It was second nature for him to finish like that – I don’t think Darwin Nunez would have scored!If Liverpool are going to beat Real Madrid, they need Salah on top form.