The stats behind Liverpool’s struggling start to the season

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side have been a joy to watch over the past five years, but they have ran into some problems this season.

We were all aware that this Liverpool side had gone through quite the transition in the summer after losing Sadio Mane, but no one quite expected this drop off. 

We may only be six games into this Premier League season, but Liverpool aren’t currently playing at the level we have become accustomed to. 

We’ve dived into the stats from their season so far to analyse where things have gone wrong for Jurgen Klopp’s side. 

Scoring goals 

If we discount Liverpool’s 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth, they have averaged 1.2 goals in the Premier League this season. 

That is a sharp decline from averaging 2.47 goals per game in the Premier League last season. 

Liverpool are currently taking more shots than any other Premier League side with 19.5 shots on average each game, but often it is to little effect. 

In their goalless draw with Everton for example, Liverpool had 23 shots in total, eight of which were on target and only one of those shots was classified as a big chance. 

On average they are taking 13 shots per game inside the box, which is the most of any Premier League club, but they are struggling to put them away. 

Currently, Liverpool rank second in the Premier League for big chances missed with 11 so far this season, which is an average of 1.83 big chances missed each game. 

Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah have all underperformed their individual xG so far this season, which shows they are getting into goalscoring opportunities but missing them more often than not. 

Mohamed Salah 

One of the biggest concerns surrounding Liverpool’s season so far has been the form of Mohamed Salah. 

At one point last season he was arguably the best player in the world, but he has struggled to reach that level this season. 

There’s no doubt that his role has been tweaked this season as he has been playing wider than he usually does and there has been more of a focus on him creating chances from the right-hand side. 

As a result of this role chance, Salah’s creative numbers have shot up, but perhaps to the detriment of his goalscoring ability. 

This season Salah has averaged four key passes per game, which has dramatically increased from him averaging just 1.8 key passes last season. 

Liverpool’s main man has two goals and two assists in his opening six Premier League matches and the lack of goals is somewhat of a concern. 

Last season he was taking an average of four shots per game and he is now taking just 2.8 shots in each match. 

In order for Liverpool to get back to their best, they need to find a solution to Salah’s current role within this new Liverpool set up. 

Defensive structure  

It has been clear for quite some time now that Liverpool’s midfield has needed a revamp and as a consequence of not doing this, their defensive structure has looked more fragile. 

It was clear that in their Champions League game against Napoli, Liverpool’s high line and a lack of pressing power from midfield was causing them all sorts of problems. 

Liverpool conceded a total of nine big chances in that game and the alarm bells with have surely been ringing after such a performance. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold was dribbled past twice in the game and without Jordan Henderson on the pitch to cover for him, he was caught out a few times. 

Next up for Liverpool is a tricky looking tie against Ajax in the Champions League where they will be looking to bounce back from last time.