Liverpool’s fourth successive defeat could be down to the players’ lack of clinical finishing, but Arne Slot cannot rely on chances to win games.
At the start of Liverpool’s 2024/25 season, it became clear that part of Slot’s approach to developing from Jurgen Klopp was to eliminate some of the risks associated with the German’s style.
The team controlled matches more often and 2–0 became a common scoreline, winning 12 of their 56 matches in all competitions by a two-goal margin.
Only three times did they score more than three goals in the Premier League last season, four times fewer than in the 2023/24 season.
However, it was their ability to control games and finish them comfortably that saw them win the league in April.
That control no longer exists, and the 2-1 defeat to Man United was a stark example of why Slot needs to change his approach.
Alexis Mac Allister’s lack of impact
The key to Liverpool’s control was their three midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai or Curtis Jones.
Against Man United, Liverpool started the first three, but there was occasionally a gaping hole in the center of the field.
Alexis Mac Allister’s lack of form is obvious to all; FotMob tells us he made no defensive contributions, had just 22 touches and created no chances on Sunday.
He was largely anonymous and that is of course partly due to his individual loss of form, but his position was also strange to see.
Because Man United were well out of possession – no surprise – he often took up positions just in front of Man United’s back line.
However, he wasn’t the only player to do this. Szoboszlai and the front three all played almost on the last defender, leaving only Gravenberch and one of Liverpool’s full-backs to essentially cover the entire midfield.
Mac Allister receiving the ball so high up the pitch certainly negates his greatest creative strength on the ball, which is why he didn’t create a single chance against Ruben Amorim’s side.
Instead, Florian Wirtz would have been better suited to picking up the ball in tight spaces with his back to the goal. When the German did come on in the second half, he was excellent, creating three chances in 28 minutes.
However, going back to Mac Allister’s advanced position, the extra yards to chase back and the lack of energy only served to Man United’s advantage as they broke.
As we have seen almost all season, Liverpool were exposed at half-time.
Both teams missed big chances
When Slot opted to switch teams around the hour mark, his substitutions only made it easier to exploit Liverpool on the counter-attack.
In effect, the Reds now had a midfield two of Wirtz and Jones, both of whom played well individually but would leave Liverpool even more vulnerable if they lost the ball.
This made for an entertaining match if you were neutral.
Cody Gakpo hit the woodwork three times and missed a header worth 0.3 xG (expected goals) according to FotMob – a sitter in normal football parlance.
In addition, Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and Alexander Isak all missed ‘big chances’.
However, to say that Liverpool would have won if they had been more clinical is to ignore the threat that Man United posed.
The visitors missed three big chances, as defined by FotMob, and could easily have made it 2-0 before halftime through Bruno Fernandes.
In summary, the players’ luck or form, whatever you want to call it, may soon change. However, that alone wouldn’t solve all of the Reds’ problems.
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