Liverpool are the slowest starters in the Premier League having managed just two goals in the opening 20 minutes of their matches this season.
To say Liverpool are slow starters would be an understatement, as they have scored in the first half of matches in just 19 of their 40 games in all competitions this season.
And only 11 times have they scored inside the first 30 minutes of those first halves.
But that record is harder to digest when you narrow it down further to only the Premier League and the first 20 minutes of games, which has seen Liverpool score only twice in 27 matches.
Premier League Club Goals Scored (First 20 Mins)
Man City (2nd) 11
Bournemouth (8th) 8
Brentford (7th) 7
Fulham (10th) 7
Arsenal (1st) 6
Chelsea (4th) 6
Everton (9th) 6
Man United (5th) 5
Aston Villa (3rd) 3
Liverpool (6th) 2
Ryan Gravenberch lays claim to the first with his opener against Everton in the 10th minute, with Hugo Ekitike responsible for the other with his strike in the first minute against Brighton – both of which were in 2025.
As per Squawka, no team has scored fewer goals in the first 20 minutes of a Premier League match this season than Arne Slot‘s side, it is a record equal with Championship-bound Wolves.
Conversely, no team has scored more in the final 15 minutes than Liverpool (15), but it points to a worrying trend that has shown few signs of stopping any time soon, as was the case at Forest.
Liverpool’s slow starts are a trend, not a blip
As per FotMob, Liverpool mustered a measly xG of 0.07 in the first half at Nottingham Forest, with two shots and none landing on target.
They conceded 12 going the other way (two on target) and allowed Forest players to have a touch inside their box 14 times compared to their five.
“[I told them at half-time] that it was the worst first half that we’ve played,” Slot admitted after the match, which you cannot dispute.
Slot conceded “a draw would’ve been a fairer result,” but his side did at least muster a response in the second 45.
The Reds managed more shots (8 vs. 6), big chances (4 vs. 0), passes in the opposition half (128 vs. 44) and touches in the opposition box (13 vs. 9) before finally scoring a goal that was not ruled out.
But Liverpool were fortunate their passive and sluggish start was not punished, as it has been five different times in the first 20 minutes in the league this season.
It is not being negative for the sake of it, rather recognition that the trend has gone on for too long, as the players and head coach have recognised.
Slot’s side had more than a week between games and with a similar break befalling them ahead of West Ham‘s visit on Saturday, there needs to be a conscious effort to discover intensity from the first whistle, not just when the clock is ticking closer to the last.
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