Pep Guardiola once said: “Those Liverpool three are good… they scare me, they are very dangerous.”
The Manchester City manager, on his way to a record 100-point Premier League season in 2018, paced a nearly empty locker room chatting with his analyst Carles Planchart and his right-hand man Domenec Torrent. It felt like a therapy session.
We have become accustomed to Guardiola's nervous tics in recent months and, although he has never been a calm soul, the greatest manager of his generation appeared shaking in his boots before a meeting with Liverpool that season.
He had reason to scratch his head and lose sleep. City were destroyed by Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané as Liverpool thrashed them 5-1 on aggregate in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Good things come in threes and, for many Liverpool fans, no trio will be able to topple the attacking triumvirate that conquered all for several years to lead the Reds to a sixth European Cup and the club's first English league title. in 30 years.
There were relentless goals, fascinating games, choreographed dances to celebrate goals in front of the Kop. The good old days for many younger fans. If one had a bad afternoon, the others would step up and lead Jurgen Klopp's team to victory.
Liverpool's front three, Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, are propelling them towards a second Premier League title.
The trio is heading for much better numbers than the famous Fab Three achieved in 2019-20.
They cannot yet be considered as good as Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané, but they are on their way to emulating them.
Now Arne Slot has selected another group of attacking superstars who are propelling Liverpool towards a second Premier League title.
Salah, 32 years old and aging like a fine wine, remains the kingpin of the group and is now joined by Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo.
They have played a total of 77 games in all competitions this season and have scored 43 goals. That's one goal every 119 minutes. In the 2019-20 title-winning campaign, Salah, Firmino and Mané scored 57 in 147 games, a goal every 206 minutes.
At the current dizzying pace, that figure will be surpassed by Salah, Díaz and Gakpo in the first weeks of 2025; It may be too big an ask to score the 14 goals needed to catch up in Sunday's clash with Manchester United at Anfield, even against Ruben Amorim's fragile defence.
No one is saying the current trio is better than the famous front three, but they are blending perfectly, playing in tandem and prompting the traveling Kop to sing the old terrace song Poetry in Motion. Judging by their post-match selfies, they're also establishing quite the bromance. The same cannot always be said of Salah's relationship with Mane.
“I saw firsthand the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was angry with the other,” Firmino wrote about the couple in his recent autobiography. 'I could feel it. I was the link between them in our attacking game and the firefighter in those moments.
'For many, that disagreement between Sadio and Mo was the first; for some, the first and the last. But it had been brewing since the previous season. My instinct and my duty was to calm the situation. Pour water on the fire, never gasoline.
The Brazilian was speaking about an incident at Burnley in August 2019 when the wingers clashed over perceived greed. He wrote: “Sadio was not only angry at being substituted: Mo had tried to shoot at goal when he had a clear pass to Mane, who was free inside the area.
Arne Slot is getting more out of Diaz and Gakpo, and switching their spots has worked wonders.
Liverpool have scored more goals than any other team and are eight points clear at the top of the table.
Firmino details tensions between Salah and Mane in his autobiography, despite his greatness
“My English isn't wonderful, so I can't tell you exactly what Mane shouted when he came out. But it wasn't pleasant at all! James Milner tried to calm him down, but Sadio was still furious, sitting on the bench, fuming, gesticulating repeatedly.
One of the biggest things in Slot's inbox when he arrived in the summer was to make Liverpool less reliant on Salah; Their drop in form towards the end of last season was a key reason why their title challenge fell apart.
The Anfield hierarchy had noted Slot's tendency to upgrade forwards at Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar, with Santiago Giménez transformed from goal-shy to prolific with the Dutchman and Luis Sinisterra going from castaway to £20m asset.
Gakpo and Diaz weren't bad last season, but their wasteful finishing was frustrating. Diaz is just one goal shy of last season's tally of 13 in all competitions, and Gakpo is on a hot streak that has left him just five shy of his return of 16 in 2023-24.
They have scored 23 goals between them to complement Salah's 20, as well as 24 assists. Salah has been directly involved in 54 per cent of Liverpool's goals this season (37 of 68), although that percentage was higher before the festive period.
Diaz and Gakpo's goals per minute ratios are almost identical with Slot. Sorry, Cody, your friend is far surpassing you: the Colombian leads the Dutchman 128 minutes to 129. Both have improved exponentially; Díaz scored every 278 minutes last season, Gakpo every 188.
An interesting facet of his improvement is that Diaz leads the line at number 9 and Gakpo is on the left. Since Gakpo signed from PSV two years ago, he has played regularly as a central forward with Diaz, who arrived three years ago, on the wing. But Diaz started his first game as a No. 9 against Bayer Leverkusen on Bonfire Night and has produced fireworks ever since, with Slot recently saying: “I played against Lucho there for a reason.” “I expected him to do well, but for him to play so well was even a surprise to me.”
In addition to a good attacking trio, all good teams have stars waiting in the wings. Liverpool's depth in that area is certainly better now than in 2019-20, with Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez obvious replacements.
A supporting cast of Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez is a big help for freshness and variety.
Many fans see Jota as the best finisher, but Díaz is making the number 9 spot his own.
If Salah signs a new contract, Liverpool could build a historic front three over a longer period
Many fans see Jota as the club's best finisher and Núñez, despite all the criticism, is a useful player and causes problems for defenders. There is also Euro 2020 winner Federico Chiesa, although the Italian has struggled for fitness since arriving from Juventus for £10m in the summer.
Liverpool striker Jayden Danns, 18, is often on the bench after missing the first half of the season with a back injury. He is highly regarded and could contribute if necessary, although he could leave on loan in January if the right offer comes along. Championship Derby is interested.
Salah, Diaz and Gakpo still can't be considered as good as the formidable three of Salah, Firmino and Mane (it's too small a sample size), but this trio combines perfectly to form what Slot hopes will be a title-winning recipe.