Paul Joyce has highlighted one shocking statistic in which Liverpool have been the joint-worst performers in the Premier League this season.
Arne Slot’s side have reignited their push for Champions League qualification with hard-fought away wins over Sunderland and Nottingham Forest over the past fortnight, with Gary Lineker backing the Reds to ultimately get into Europe’s premier club competition again next term.
With our next three top-flight matches all against teams currently in the bottom five, there appears to be an ideal opportunity for the champions to capitalise on a theoretically gentler run of fixtures before some heavy-hitting showdowns during the April and May run-in.
Joyce highlights alarming Liverpool goal statistic
In an article for The Times, Paul Joyce drilled into the underlying numbers between Liverpool’s first 20 games of the season (up to the 1-4 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in November) and the subsequent 20, and he discovered one startling statistic in terms of goalscoring.
The journalist outlined: ‘Liverpool have scored only five goals before the 40th minute in league games, one since the win over Everton in September, and in matches at Anfield that has done little to enliven a home crowd looking to be entertained.
Indeed, it is the joint-lowest of any Premier League side this season along with rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers; last season, Liverpool had scored 24 goals during the same time frame of their first 27 league games.
‘Finding a solution to those slow starts is long overdue, especially considering how Slot has repeatedly spoken about how the intensity of the schedule has affected some of the club’s new signings and contributed to the concession of costly late goals.’
Liverpool concede plenty of first-half goals but haven’t scored many
It seems incredible to think that, having scored four times before the 40th minute in our first five Premier League matches this season, Liverpool have only managed it once in the subsequent 22.
The irony is that the solitary goal in question is the earliest that the Reds have netted all season – Hugo Ekitike’s opener at home to Brighton in December came after just 47 seconds.
Premier League goals scored by Liverpool this season before the 40th minute
Date Opponent Goalscorer Minute
15 August Bournemouth Hugo Ekitike 37th
25 August Newcastle Ryan Gravenberch 35th
21 September Everton Ryan Gravenberch 10th
21 September Everton Hugo Ekitike 29th
13 December Brighton Hugo Ekitike 1st
The slow starts domestically haven’t just been in terms of LFC finding the net, either – since the Everton game in September, Slot’s team have conceded 10 goals in the top flight prior to the 40-minute mark, including each of their four matches after the Merseyside derby.
Ultimately, the only scoreline which counts is the one at full-time, and Liverpool’s three Premier League wins over the past month have stemmed from improved second-half performances, but the dearth of early goals from the champions is bizarre.
It’s a statistical oddity which’ll hopefully be addressed in the final third of the campaign as the Reds strive to ensure that they’ll be a Champions League club again next season.
