Liverpool struggled in front of goal before the international break but a number of Arne Slot's forwards might have just turned the corner
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot reacts during the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot reacts during the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium(Image: 2025 CameraSport)
Liverpool have enjoyed an eye-catching season in front of goal. They are the most prolific side in the Premier League with 69 goals - 14 more than second-best Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur and 16 more than both Arsenal and Chelsea.
In Mohamed Salah, they boast the runaway leader for the Premier League Golden Boot with 27 goals. The Egyptian has 32 goals in all competitions for the season, while Cody Gakpo (16) and Luis Diaz (13) have also recorded double-figures.
But that has not stopped them from facing criticism in recent weeks for new-found struggles in front of goal.
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Such backlash has enhanced following back-to-back defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United as Liverpool suffered a premature Champions League exit before putting in a dismal performance in their League Cup final defeat at Wembley.
They registered just two shots on target against the Magpies, while they were unable to threaten the scoresheet as they exited the Champions League on penalties after a 1-0 defeat at Anfield to the Parisians. From their 19 shots that night, only three were on target.
Yet, their ‘woes’ pre-date such losses. They came from behind to beat struggling Southampton 3-1, registering 28 shots on goal with seven on target. But two of their goals came from the penalty spot.
In their first leg in Paris, they won 1-0 courtesy of scoring their only shot on target in the 87th minute, having only recorded two shots in total. Prior to that, they hit the target only three times from 12 shots in their 2-0 Premier League victory over Newcastle.
When beating Man City 2-0, four of their eight shots hit the target. But in their previous outing, drawing 2-2 away at Aston Villa, they hit the target only three times from 17 attempts.
They registered only three shots on target from 10 attempts against struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers, too, needing another penalty from Salah to earn a 2-1 win. And in the 2-2 draw with Everton, they hit the target four times from just six shots.
So, across their last nine matches, they have scored 15 goals from 30 shots on target. A clinical enough return, even if three of each were penalties. But that’s from their last 109 shots in total.
Underperforming in front of goal against both Southampton and Aston Villa, their xG stood at 4.11 and 2.44. Their third best xG across such a run came in the narrow victory over Wolves (1.76).
They are the only times the Reds registered higher than 1.65 across their last nine games. And against Everton (0.65), Man City (0.71) and PSG away (0.27), their struggles were laid bare even more. And it is in stark contrast to their returns the month before against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur (3.76 xG) AFC Bournemouth (2.66 xG), Ipswich Town (1.9 xG), Lille (2.23 xG), Brentford (3.4 xG), Nottingham Forest (1.95 xG) and Manchester United (2.87 xG).
In recent weeks, Liverpool have faced a variety of woes. When creating chances, they are struggling to hit the target. And at other times, they have struggled to create at all.
This will go hand-in-hand with the declining fortunes of their forwards, as the efforts of Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota in particular came under-fire after the League Cup final loss.
The trio have scored just two goals between them from their combined last 41 appearances. Nunez has one goal from his last 13 games while Diaz has one goal from 18 outings. Meanwhile, Jota is now on a 10-match scoring drought.
Meanwhile, Gakpo’s electrifying form was brought to a drastic halt by injury. Prior to the Merseyside derby, he had scored 14 goals from his last 22 games.
But after picking up a knock in the Merseyside derby, he has missed four of Liverpool’s last eight matches and is without a goal from his last five club appearances.
And even Salah’s own standards have dropped off, with some onlookers theorising that he could have been impacted by fasting during Ramadan, which started on February 28.
Since then, his only two goals for Liverpool have come from the penalty spot against Southampton as he endured quiet displays against PSG and Newcastle. In the League Cup final, he failed to even attempt a shot on goal or create a chance for the first time even in a game in which he has played 90 or more minutes for the Reds.
Such fortunes across the board have prompted supporters to call for Federico Chiesa to be given more of a chance by Arne Slot, having impressed off the bench when scoring against Newcastle United in the League Cup final.
He has only played 11 times since joining Liverpool, featuring only three times in the Premier League and starting just a further three times. But as the only available senior Reds player not called up for international duty in March, he is certainly fresh ahead of the title run-in.
However, maybe the international break has come at a good time for Slot’s ranks, with four of his forwards registering goal contributions while away with their countries.
Diaz has enjoyed the most impressive break. While he might only have one goal in 2025 for Liverpool from 18 outings, he has two goals from two appearances for Colombia.
On the scoresheet in their 2-1 loss to Brazil, finishing past club-mate Alisson Becker, he scored after less than 40 seconds against Paraguay and also registered an assist in a 2-2 draw.
Gakpo and Salah were also on the scoresheet, with the Dutchman netting in the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Spain in the Nations League quarter-final first leg. Meanwhile, the Egyptian recorded a goal and an assist in a 2-0 victory over Ethiopia.
While Jota didn’t score for Portugal, he did register an assist too in his only outing during the break, coming off the bench to set up the final goal in his nation’s 5-2 Nations League quarter-final second leg win over Denmark.
And while predominantly a midfielder but at times utilised in attack, Harvey Elliott also scored for England Under-21s during the break in a 5-3 friendly loss to France.
This leaves Nunez as the only forward not to produce for his country this month, with the out-of-form striker failing to register even a shot in their 1-0 defeat to Argentina before dropping to the bench for Uruguay’s 0-0 draw with Bolivia. Introduced as a half-time substitute, he then failed to produce a shot on target.
Scoring only seven times for Liverpool this season, five have come in the Premier League. And starting only eight times in the Premier League under Slot, the 25-year-old was unable to hold down a starting place even when Jota was out injured.
Consequently, Nunez’s Anfield future remains the subject of speculation with it widely expected he will leave the club this summer. It would be a welcome surprise if his fortunes improved during the final nine games of the season.
But Slot can at least be encouraged by the attacking returns of his other forwards during the international break, with the Reds inevitably hoping they report back to Merseyside fit, on form and full of confidence after their scoring exploits with their nations.
After a number of weeks where it has not been quite clicking for Slot's men in front of goal, it at least bodes well that Diaz, Gakpo and Salah look to have turned a corner ahead of club football resuming.
And with Everton their next opponents at Anfield on Wednesday 2 April in the second Merseyside derby of the season, who better to rediscover scoring form against than your local rivals whom the drop off in front of goal started against in the first place.