Liverpool’s attack is in fantastic form at present with a variety of players making significant contributions.
Eight different players have scored at least once In the Reds’ seven matches since the last international break, with Mohamed Salah inevitably leading the way thanks to his six goals and two assists.
Indeed, at the rate they are going Liverpool could set a record for the number of goals scored in a single Premier League season.
But while this is obviously fantastic to see, Jurgen Klopp’s side also deserve tremendous credit for how they’ve been performing at the defensive side of the game. In a small but not insignificant way, they’ve just set a record of sorts.
READ MORE: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has just proven Jurgen Klopp's 'boring' Liverpool decision right
PAUL GORST: 'Liverpool already know truth about Champions League draw after bizarre twist'
After their 3-2 defeat at West Ham, Liverpool’s defence came in for some deserved criticism. In their last six league games at that point, they had also conceded three goals at Brentford, and two at Anfield to both Brighton and Manchester City.
Their turnaround since then has been excellent. The Reds have played five league matches since their one loss of the season so far and have conceded just a single goal.
Such form has carried them to a total of 10 clean sheets after 16 matches, a tally they’ve only bettered once in the Premier League era (in 2005/06).
Their recent games certainly haven’t been the hardest quintet of fixtures a team could face but neither have they been the most straightforward.
Arsenal arrived at Anfield on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run, a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park is rarely straightforward and Aston Villa have been in fine form since they appointed Steven Gerrard.
Yet Liverpool largely dealt with what those sides (plus Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers) had to offer with minimal fuss.
Across their league games since the last international break, the Reds conceded just 27 shots, the joint-fewest they have allowed in any of their 232 stretches of five league matches under Klopp.
And while the nine shots on target with which Alisson Becker had to contend was not a new five-game low, it was the fewest for almost two years, since the middle of the 2019/20 title-winning campaign.
Arguably more significant than either of these numbers is the fact that they recorded the lowest expected goal total for a five-game period in the Klopp era, breaking below the two xG level for the first time ( per Understat ).
Southampton had the most, with 0.97, then came Everton with 0.51 expected goals. The other three sides only matched the latter tally between them: Arsenal had 0.27, Aston Villa 0.14 and Wolves just 0.10 xG.
The stability of selection among the goalkeeper and back four which so sorely deserted Liverpool in 2020/21 has returned and has clearly helped their defensive performance.
Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk started all five games, while Joel Matip and Andy Robertson were only rested for one each.
Only three combinations of centre-backs and goalkeeper got more than 360 minutes together for Liverpool in the whole of last season, and none of those that did featured two established senior options at the heart of the defence.
Being able to unite Matip and Van Dijk in front of the Reds’ number one has inevitably helped. The solidity of the team has improved and aided the structure of the whole side.
With a solid platform on which to build, the team can press more effectively. While it’s an arbitrary target to aim for, history shows that Liverpool get good results when they make at least 53 successful pressures.
Since the start of 2017/18 the Reds have reached this benchmark in 44 league matches, winning 36 of them and drawing the other eight.
Klopp’s pressing monsters recorded exactly 53 against Southampton and 63 in their win at Molineux. Their total of 50 against Everton wasn’t far short of the magic number and they were also successful with 61 when beating Milan 2-1 last week.
With opposition teams being dispossessed so frequently and an established defence and goalkeeper on hand too, Liverpool’s impressive defensive numbers could yet get even better.
