It has been a disappointing few days for Liverpool fans, who have watched their team’s chances of a possible treble disappear within two games.
The Reds first suffered a 4-1 penalty shootout loss to PSG in the UEFA Champions League last 16 before losing 2-1 to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
While both results were painful, perhaps the most agonizing part of the losses was Liverpool’s performance in the first leg of the game against PSG and the final on Sunday.
During the first leg at Parc des Princes, Liverpool were completely outfoxed by Luis Enrique’s side, who fired ten shots at Alisson’s goal. The goalkeeper was the Man of the Match in the game, keeping Liverpool in the tie.
But the Brazilian could do nothing in the second leg, failing to save any of the penalties he faced.
His number two, Caoimhin Kelleher, who started the game against Newcastle United on Sunday, could do little to stop Dan Burn and Alexander Isak from scoring.
Arne Slot was particularly displeased with the performance on Sunday, slamming his team’s inability to win duels.
“This game had nothing to do with running, it had only to do with playing duel,” he noted.
“This game went exactly the way [Newcastle] wanted it to, a fight with a lot of duels and a lot of duels in the air. And if we play 10 times a game of football through the air against them, they win it probably nine times because they are a stronger team through the air than us.”
This is not the first time Slot is complaining about Liverpool doing poorly in duels. In his first competitive game in charge of Liverpool, theDutchman made it clear how important he thinks duels are.
Slot was unhappy with his team’s goalless first half at Ipswich Town in August 2024. They had won just 41.5% of their duels against the newly promoted side in that game.
“I have to give credit to Ipswich because they were aggressive, they were not afraid, they were playing one-v-one all over the pitch to defend us,” Slot said after the game.
“Then it is about winning your duels and winning your second balls. I think they won more than us, and that’s why it was absolutely an equal game in the first half.”
The Liverpool boss took off Jarell Quansah for Ibrahima Konate at half-time against Ipswich, which resulted in an improved duel success rate. Reds won 54.5% of duels after the break and went on to win 2-0.
However, it appears as though Liverpool’s inability to win duels has crept up again in the last few months, explaining why the Reds lost both games against PSG and Newcastle.
Data provided by football data crunchers Opta Analyst has revealed that the Reds’ duel success rate has dropped in the last few months.
Per the report, on Sunday, “Newcastle won 57.3% of duels (51/89), and 68.0% of aerial duels (17/25) in the final.”
“In fact, of all 16 players who featured for Liverpool at Wembley, only Konaté (3/4), Salah (2/3) and Chiesa (4/4) won more than 50% of their duels,” the report added.
The Opta Analyst report analysed ten games in which Liverpool recorded their lowest duel success rate in all competitions since Arne Slot became manager. The analyses revealed that three of their lowest duel success rates occurred in March.
Opta Analyst Data
Image credit: Opta Analyst
“Of Liverpool’s six least successful games for duels this season, three have come since the start of March, while last month’s unconvincing Premier League home win over Wolves also features in the top 10. That includes an astonishingly low 32.5% (27/83) success rate in their Champions League last-16 first-leg win at PSG,” the report noted.
“In total, this season, Liverpool has only won more than 50% of their duels in 15 of their 47 games and have only done so three times in their last 17 games in all competitions.”
Perhaps the fact that Slot has rarely rotated his squad has led to decreased energy. The Reds midfield engine Ryan Gravenberch has barely had a breather this season, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister have also played so many games.
Liverpool remain on course to win the Premier League title, with a 12-point cushion over second-placed Arsenal, giving them the initiative heading into the final run of the season.
However, if the club wants to remain competitive next season, it will be wise to address the issue of dependence on a few players in the summer.
Read more: 5 talking points from Liverpool Carabao Cup loss
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