Everything is Fine

Liverpool haven't been at their best this season. But everything is fine, and not just with the league table.

Are you worried about Liverpool this season? They threw away two goal leads against Bournemouth and Newcastle, with the latter staging their recovery with only 10 men.

The Reds created next to nothing against Arsenal, then needed a stoppage time penalty to beat a Burnley side that is so bad they lost to Manchester United. Four wins out of four is fantastic, but bloody hell, Reds.

With Everton up next in a 12:30 kickoff ahead of trips to Crystal Palace and Chelsea, the league schedule doesn’t get easier. There’s also a trip to Turkey between the latter two fixtures and a likely bruising encounter with Atlético Madrid ahead of the derby.

Liverpool’s performances since the new season began are not reassuring fans that their title defence will be smooth. Mohamed Salah’s non-penalty output per 90 minutes has halved since last season, with his touch largely deserting him. Florian Wirtz has yet to truly get going, Milos Kerkez looks a little overawed and rash, while Alexander Isak has yet to feature, much less start or score.

It will take time for the new-look Reds to gel, with hard work needed for their performance level to return to the high of last term. Will they get there before they run out of last minute winners, if that well hasn’t run dry already?

We can only hope so, it’s impossible to be certain. There are grounds for optimism, though. Plenty of them. Think of this as the ABF version of Ian Dury’s Reasons To Be Cheerful. There’s more than three sections too.

Liverpool have not been behind this season

The Reds conceded some very soft goals in the opening weeks of the campaign. Crystal Palace, Bournemouth (from counter attacks) and Newcastle (set pieces) all scored twice. It’s a good job Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha had their Get Out of Jail Free cards tucked in their shorts for the matches that mattered.

As frustrating as these lapses were, Liverpool have not gone behind. Teams spend longer at 0-0 than any other scoreline, it’s vital to dominate that time. The side that scores first wins around 70 per cent of their matches in the Premier League. Slot’s side were at 84 per cent for this last season, 91 before the title was secured.

For every 90 minutes they spent in goalless games last term, the Reds conceded seven shots worth a combined 0.7 expected goals. This season? 6.8 efforts for 0.6 xG. They are just as solid when it matters most, which provides a fantastic platform. Our next reason for positivity shows why the team will improve further.