Hi, I just played a match against a 4-4-2 opponent. I was second and he was 3rd in the league. Had he won he would have over taken me. The formation I used was a 4-5-1 flat with blue arrow on my MC (only the middle one) and red arrows on my ML & MR. Just before the match I changed the player win bonus from 20k to 40k. I ended up winning the match 6 - 2 and I was the away team. He had one supporter and himself watching. I just had myself watching. May not work for everyone but did for me, I think the win bonus helped I gave to my players.

Like you I have not had a lot of success with 4-5-1V and lost the league top spot, a couple of games ago, against a team near the bottom playing 4-4-2. This was the last time I tried 4-5-1V

Good luck with your match