#counter attacks

I've been thinking about this a lot lately... maybe it's just me but I feel like the 4-3-3 is still the way to go for counter attacking teams?? I mean, you've got the width from the wingers, the holding mid to clean up, and the striker to finish it off. But then I see teams like Liverpool using the 4-2-3-1 and having so much success... so I'm kinda torn. What do you guys think?? Is one formation really better than the others for catching teams off guard?