Liverpool’s fortunes may not look as bleak as they did a couple of weeks ago, but Jurgen Klopp’s side still don’t look like the side that have pushed Manchester City all the way in recent seasons.
A last-gasp victory against Newcastle at Anfield means the Reds are fifth in the Premier League table, with Fabio Carvalho, who only turned 20 earlier this week, scoring a winner in the 98th minute.
But it is their teammates, who are just entering their 30s, who have asked them the most questions so far this season.
Fabio Carvalho’s goal saw Liverpool beat Newcastle, but his older teammates have struggled
Virgil van Dijk was criticized by Jamie Carragher for his role in Jadon Sancho’s goal in their loss to Man United and was also criticized for the clumsiness with which he took a penalty in the 2-2 draw at Fulham.
Mohamed Salah recorded his first assists of the season against the Magpies, but some Reds fans were concerned that he did not contribute to any of the nine goals scored against Bournemouth. The Egyptian himself has scored just twice this season.
Captain Jordan Henderson has also failed to appear at his normal level and has now added to the injury crisis at the club after sustaining a ‘serious’ hamstring injury against Eddie Howe’s men.
Liverpool remain five points behind a rampaging Man City despite two wins from two, with players who have formed the backbone of their team in recent years now entering the final seasons of the peak of their careers.
Also the aforementioned trio, all critical in the 2019-20 title-winning season, are still as effective as they were before.
sports mail crunch numbers provided by option have a look….
Players who have formed the backbone of his team in recent years are now entering the final seasons of their prime.
Carragher criticized the lack of intensity of van Dijk’s defense in the loss to Manchester United last month.
But the stats don’t necessarily suggest there has been a drop in that department from the Dutchman so far this term.
While the stats for all of these comparisons look at an average of the various figures from the first five games relative to the previous three seasons, they shed light on how little seems to have changed for van Dijk.
To be sure, the 0.4 average for how often they dribble it every 90 minutes this term is higher than any of the past three seasons, with that figure sitting at exactly zero in 2020-21.
Virgil van Dijk has been criticized for his defense at Fulham and Man United this term
But he is averaging 0.6 tackles per game, at the level of the title-winning 2019-20 season and up from last season’s 0.5, while his average of five passing duels is only better than 6, 6 he achieved three seasons ago.
That has given him an aerial duel success rate of 72 percent, not quite on last season’s tally of 77.5 percent, but well above the 63.2 percent he posted in 2020-21.
His ability to get the ball out from behind hasn’t diminished either, averaging 90.4 passes per 90 minutes, higher than in any season since 2019-20.
He has attempted more passes in both halves than in any other recent season, but his accuracy numbers are slightly down from previous seasons at 76.5 percent in the opposite half and 92.7 percent in his own half.
The stats are even more revealing for Captain Henderson, who could now be out for an extended period of time.
Jordan Henderson could now be out for an extended period of time with a hamstring problem
Passes he has attempted overall per 90 is well below 69.6, well below 95.7 in 2020-21.
That leads to a decrease in the number of passes and the accuracy of them in both halves compared to the last three seasons. For example, his own-half accuracy of 87.9 percent is commendable, but not the 90 he has achieved since 2019-20.
But there’s no noticeable drop in his work off the ball, making 1.1 tackles per 90, which is close to the 1.2 and 1.3 he’s managed recently, while yet to make a mistake that led to a goal or been dribbled.
However, a little more about Salah’s struggles can still be read through the collected statistics.
The man who was joint Golden Boot winner last season currently has a minutes-per-goal ratio of 225, well above his next best of 152 in 2019-20.
That can certainly be explained by the fact that he has been attempting fewer shots this season. He is averaging just 2.8 per game so far this season, down from 4.5 last season and the next highest of 3.7 in 2020-21.
Thus, he has only managed 0.8 shots on goal per game this season, a steep drop compared to the three he averaged in 2021-22.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a drastic drop in his big-ops conversion stats, currently sitting at 25 percent, with numbers in the other three seasons above 40 percent.
However, it does not appear to be the result of a lack of trying. Salah is attempting 4.8 dribbles per game, up from 4.4 last season, while last season’s numbers did not exceed three.
Mohamed Salah’s average number of shots per 90 minutes this quarter has dropped dramatically
However, his dribbling success rate stands at 33.3%, which is the lowest of any of the previous three seasons and well below the 53.2% he achieved in the triumphant 2019-20 campaign.
So it’s a mixed bag when it comes to stats suggesting how effective Liverpool’s trio are compared to recent successful campaigns.
But regardless, Klopp will certainly hope his performances improve on the face of it if they want to compete for the biggest prizes again this season.
