Mo Salah is STRUGGLING but Liverpool have a bigger problem | OneFootball

Mo Salah did not have a good game as Liverpool lost to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. But they have a much bigger problem.

Liverpool struggled against Crystal Palace and fully deserved to lose on Saturday. The Reds gave up an incredible number of chances and honestly, they were lucky it was only the two that made it into the net.

It was another game in which Salah struggled, too. The Egyptian had ten fewer touches than Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, struggling to get into the game and when he did, he was ineffective.

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And that's been a bit of a pattern for Salah this season. He wasn't really involved in several games across the campaign, finding himself on the fringes of Liverpool's attack.

Isolated out on the wing, it was quickly apparent that the Reds were not actually getting him the ball. Failing to get the best out of your best player will create a problem for any team but Liverpool have a bigger problem.

And it's one Arne Slot must solve.

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Liverpool are not the same team

A lot of Liverpool's data heading into the Palace clash was similar to the title-winning campaign of last season. Completed passes into the final third? 42 per 90 minutes vs 39. Into the penalty area? 11.3 vs 11.2.

Things like progressive passes per 90 have dropped 10 per cent but then Liverpool have started the season with a few difficult fixtures.

What's worrying, however, is where the bulk of Liverpool's play is coming. The Reds averaged 681 touches last season and 670 touches this season. That's a concerning drop but not necessarily a bad one.

The worrying thing, then, is that the drop isn't across the board when you look at where the passes are coming from. Liverpool's touches within the defensive third are actually up significantly.

They've moved from 191 such touches to 208. It's a giant leap, taking them from the sixth lowest average in the Premier League to the third highest.

Now, strangely, Liverpool are still right in the top three for touches in the midfield third, attacking third and opposition penalty area. They've dropped by a large number in all attacking areas but the entire league has.

Liverpool are also the best in England for carries into the final third and penalty area. They still receive the most progressive passes in the league despite their average dropping by five.

So once Liverpool get going, they're fine. They're just as able to get into dangerous areas once they're up the pitch. The problem is that it's taking them longer to actually get out of defence.

You can look at Virgil van Dijk for that. The Dutchman always averages more touches in the middle of the pitch than in the defensive third. In Jurgen Klopp's best Liverpool team, he averaged 20 more in the middle and last season? 14 more.

But for the first time since arriving at Anfield, Van Dijk is now averaging more touches in the defensive third than in midfield. That's a gigantic swing and shows that Liverpool are struggling to actually get out.

The result is Salah then averaging around four fewer touches in the opposition box than he's used to (down to five from nine) - a new career low heading into the Palace game. Liverpool just don't move forward in the same way and it's having a negative effect.

Now, a lot of this is to be expected. Liverpool made a lot of changes in the summer and lost their best passer in Trent Alexander-Arnold. Teams can press higher when they know things aren't as fluid for the Reds at the back.

And until Slot fixes that and gets Liverpool operating more fluidly and in better areas of the pitch, the likes of Salah will struggle to impact games in the same way. This isn't the same side that won the title - but they need to start playing a bit closer to it.