Journalist highlights alarming Liverpool statistic which must be depriving Arne Slot of sleep | OneFootball

Liverpool may be the reigning Premier League champions and current leaders, but they’ve been one of the division’s worst teams of the season so far in one regard.

The Reds fell to a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday, with the Eagles’ goals stemming from a corner kick and a throw-in, raising legitimate questions about the ability of Arne Slot’s side to defend from set pieces.

That was exacerbated just over 24 hours later as Arsenal scored twice off corners to plunder a dramatic late win away to Newcastle, thus moving within two points of the Merseysiders on a perfect weekend for Mikel Arteta and co.

(Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

David Lynch lays bare shocking Liverpool set-piece stat

In his latest Substack column, David Lynch highlighted an especially worrying statistic which lays bare the extent of Liverpool’s set-piece woes in the early weeks of the season.

The LFC-focused reporter wrote: ‘Thus far this season, the Reds’ only set-piece strike in the Premier League is Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunner against Arsenal, which is not exactly the sort of repeatable routine you aim for.

‘They have also conceded four from set-pieces, leaving West Ham (seven) as the only top-flight side with a worse record at this point. Slot regularly discusses the need for “set-piece balance” (scoring as many as you concede) and his team are falling well short of that expectation currently.

‘Arsenal, meanwhile, are now up to a league-leading seven goals for, with just two conceded at the other end. Of course, this also throws up questions around sustainability given they have scored 12 times in total, with a penalty and a seriously questionable four open-play goals completing their tally.

‘But if Liverpool were even half as effective as their rivals in scoring from set-pieces, then their superiority in open play would likely mean there wouldn’t be much of a title race again this season.’

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Liverpool have plenty of room for improvement on set pieces

That the Reds have the second-highest concession tally from set pieces in the Premier League may well be giving Slot a few sleepless nights, particularly given the height and physicality of starting centre-back duo Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.

While obviously there’s much more to football than scoring or conceding from a set play, the evidence is there to show that this aspect of the game can be paramount to a team’s success or failure on the pitch.

Opta stats showed that, prior to last weekend, 25% of goals scored in the Premier League this season were from set pieces (excluding penalties). If that average is maintained throughout the campaign, it’ll be the highest in a single season over a 10-year period beginning from 2016/17 (premierleague.com).

However much some Liverpool fans might like to deride Arsenal as set-piece merchants, the statistics highlighted by Lynch are damning from an LFC perspective, and Slot will be yearning to remedy the imbalance between now and the end of May.

That the Reds are top of the table shows that they’re not doing a whole lot wrong, but there’s most definitely room for improvement when it comes to defending and scoring from corners, free kicks, throw-ins, etc.

If we can begin to get that right on both counts, we should be able to establish a firmer lead at the Premier League summit.