Having had a surprise weekend off as a result of Hurricane Darragh causing havoc in the British north west, Liverpool came into tonight’s game with what should have been rested legs, and although they didn’t look like it to begin with, that full six days without a game might have been exactly why they were able to so significantly outlast Girona in a win that in all likelihood secured their qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Following a few near-misses at the back in a high-paced first half, the Reds did what they had to do in the second, tweaking the sliders to take control, and riding yet another Mohamed Salah goal — on a penalty awarded by VAR after Donnny van de Beek committed the rarely spotted double foul in his own box — and yet another clean sheet — the fifth in a row in this competition — to three points.
With all that said, then, we provide a quick word on the winners and losers on the night.
Winners
Adjustments: Liverpool have established a trend this season, where they finish games significantly stronger than they start them. By the numbers, they generate twice as many expected goals in second halves, and on average, match their entire first half production in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
After a somewhat uninspired but helter skelter first half, where the hosts produced a big chance through Arnaut Danjuma, and went close — although offside on both occasions — through Daley Blind and Bryan Gil, the visitors simply choked the life out of the game with possession, got their goal, and cruised to an uneventful one-goal win.
It may have been preferable — certainly more exciting to the neutral — if Darwin Núñez tucked away his chances, Joe Gomez got his first ever goal, and the Reds won 3-2 in a back and forth affair, but Arne Slot will only care about the three points that all but guarantees qualification to the next stage of the competition, and the ability to make the correct adjustments at half-time and apply them in a manner that largely locks the opposition out of the game is a method that has been working gangbusters on that end thus far.
Losers
Opening Moves: The flipside of the second half adjustments is the need to make second half adjustments. For long periods of the Jürgen Klopp era — and very much unlike their fiercest rivals in that time — the Reds were notorious slow starters, typically not generating much in the first half hour, then turning the screw to produce clusters of chances as needed. It didn’t always require a fightback, as a slow start does not mean you always go a goal down, but the Concede From the First Shot on Target FC meme didn’t originate out of nothing, nor did the Mentality Monsters moniker.
The pattern appears to be repeating under Slot, and the Reds never seem in a rush to turn up the heat, relying instead on continued pressure through dominating territory and well-tuned adjustments to carry them through, while an at all times balanced rest defence prevents them from having to dig their way out of a hole.
As long as it gets the desired results — and it currently very much does — we can’t have too many complaints, but should the need for 100-point seasons reemerge and the annoying draws begin to stack up, one would hope Slot comes to see the value in blitzing your opponent out of the gates on occasion.
What Happens Next
The Reds host a surprisingly capable if offensively impotent Fulham on Saturday, as they look to capitalise on both Arsenal and Manchester City dropping points last weekend, before a trip to Southampton for the EFL Cup quarter-final next Wednesday, in a bid to defend their only currently held title.