With the difficulties Liverpool have already faced this season, Jurgen Klopp may have been grateful for a little extra time on the training field. The Reds’ match against Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday was postponed, and their trip to Chelsea this weekend will now also be rescheduled for later in the campaign.
In his pre-match press conference for the Champions League tussle with Ajax, the Liverpool manager said he’d rather have faced Bruno Lage’s side though. "Did I want to play the Wolves game? Yes, but of course now in a week now with Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, it would have been tough on everyone anyway, coming back Thursday afternoon [from Italy] and stuff like this," Klopp said. "But yes, we would have wanted to play.”
It makes sense. The only way to improve is to play, and the Reds have a lot of improving to do after their abysmal showing in their 4-1 loss against Napoli. They also have ground to make up in the Premier League title race.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher considered revenge after brutal incident left manager fuming
READ MORE: All of Jurgen Klopp's 37 Liverpool signings and what happened next
As things stand, Liverpool are six points behind leaders Arsenal. In reality, the five-point gap to Manchester City is the more pressing deficit. If Pep Guardiola’s side win at Molineux on Saturday, the Reds will head into the international break even further adrift, and possibly in mid-table depending on other results. Although Chelsea away is a very tough game, it’s another which Klopp would presumably rather play.
Yet while it won’t bring back the points dropped, there is evidence that his team should have enjoyed better results than those which have occurred. The expected goal stats for the Premier League suggest Liverpool were most likely to have four points more, 13 in total. They currently own the biggest shortfall between performance and points in the division.
Per Infogol, the Reds have amassed 14.3 expected goals, the second most in the division. As they’ve scored 15 times, they are on track. The distribution of when the goals have occurred has cost them – spreading around some of the nine which Bournemouth conceded would obviously have helped.
Only four teams have conceded a lower xG total too, and as Liverpool have let in one fewer goal than expected, they are not massively overachieving there either. The Reds have allowed 11 clear-cut chances (those golden opportunities where the attacker is expected to score) which is better than average, even if there remains room for improvement.
But even when looking at the highest value openings in matches, there has been plenty of variation. In their 2-2 draw with Fulham, Liverpool had four clear-cut chances and only allowed the hosts one, but it was the penalty from which Aleksandar Mitrovic gave them the lead for the second time.
That match was followed with another draw against a team from London, and another in which the Reds won the expected goal battle. However, where their best opportunities against Crystal Palace were valued at 0.40 xG, the Eagles had two which were rated higher, including the chance for Wilfried Zaha’s opening goal ( per Understat ).
More recently at Goodison Park, Liverpool had 23 shots and dominated possession while Everton had 14 attempts. The best chance of the match occurred on the break and fell to the Blues’ Neal Maupay though.
The specifics of the game could easily have seen the Reds lose, even though it was another match where many of the stats implied they deserved to win. And that’s before we consider the debacle in Naples, in which Klopp’s side conceded nine clear-cut chances, more than five teams have allowed in total across their first six Premier League matches in 2022/23.
In some games they have been unlucky. Liverpool had more than enough good chances to beat Fulham, were excellent in the opening 30 minutes against Palace and found Jordan Pickford in the form of his life in the Merseyside derby.
But while they retain a glass jaw, which allows teams to enjoy the biggest chance of the match ( and often via the same method ), they have a significant problem. It’s not only misfortune holding a team back when this issue repeatedly occurs.
READ NEXT
- Steven Gerrard dressing room incident made Liverpool star 'melt' after dream Anfield return
- Liverpool staff delighted with rushed through transfer as £50 move pays off
- Liverpool have found their next Sadio Mane within chaos of early season problems
- Rafael van der Vaart slams Liverpool and singles out three 'very normal' players
- Jurgen Klopp makes 'crazy' Liverpool admission as 'misjudgement' leads to changes
