Liverpool are not achieving Arne Slot's Set Piece Balance

Liverpool have been poor from set plays this season. This is strange when dead ball situations are of great importance to head coach Arne Slot.

Liverpool’s mild stumbles in pursuit of the Premier League title continued at Villa Park on Wednesday. They lead, they trailed, they drew. They came, they saw, they very much did not conquer.

Speaking to the BBC after the game, head coach Arne Slot was asked if the Reds had failed to match their usual high standards at both ends of the pitch. “Yes, I did feel that we defended really well because I can’t come up with a lot of their chances,” he replied.

“The only thing I’m not happy with is: if you play a big game, an away game at [Aston] Villa, that’s a difficult one and you need to have a neutral set piece balance or a positive one, but we conceded one, didn’t score one. Then it’s hard. But still we were able to get a result because we scored two very good goals.”

José Mourinho has a seven-point plan for winning big matches, Slot wants a positive set piece balance in them. While all managers want that in every game, Liverpool are on track to post a negative goal difference from set plays in the Premier League for the first time in a decade. If dead ball situations are of particular importance to the Reds’ boss, his team are underwhelming him.

Set plays were certainly a potent outlet for Slot’s Feyenoord side. Across his three seasons in Rotterdam they scored 30 goals more than they conceded in the Eredivisie in this manner, with a positive goal difference of at least seven each year. With such a strong record, it is surprising this is one - the only? - area in which the Reds have declined since Slot replaced Jürgen Klopp.

Not being able to appoint Feyenoord’s set piece coach Etiënne Reijnen due to work permit issues obviously hasn’t helped. Even so, Slot’s comments about wanting a positive set play balance make it worth investigating how frequently Liverpool have enjoyed that over the years and whether it has been on the cards that often in 2024/25.