Liverpool FC: Breaking Good under Arne Slot

Liverpool had five counter attacking shots in their win over Aston Villa. The Reds were excellent on the break under Jürgen Klopp. They may be better now.

Starring Dean Norris as Arne Slot

Liverpool are enjoying the best of both worlds. They lead the Premier League by five points while also topping the Champions League Group Phase League Table League, or however it’s clumsily titled.

This is not the only sense in which the Reds of 2024/25 are having their cake and eating it. Their style of play is a delicious blend of the styles of Arne Slot and Jürgen Klopp. The new head coach has tightened the structure of the side while retaining the razor-sharp attacking instincts of his predecessor.

“I inherited a team that did really well last season and for so many seasons before, so there was not a reason to change lots of things, just keep the things they do really well.”

ARNE SLOT, SPEAKING TO TNT SPORTS

Never has this been more apparent than in the 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday. Unai Emery’s side mustered just 0.48 expected goals in open play, almost doubling that (0.90) from set pieces. As Villa top the Premier League for proportion of xG from dead ball situations, this sort of attacking outcome isn’t exclusive to Liverpool. The Reds still restricted them to roughly half of their normal open play expected goals though.

This had a noticeable benefit in attack, with Liverpool recording five shots which were classified as counter attacks (also known as ‘fast breaks’). The quintet accounted for their three highest value chances, 70 per cent of the xG.

There is no easy way to search for comparable examples, but my database shows the Reds’ previous record from recent years was four such shots; in the 3-0 win at Leeds in which Harvey Elliott suffered a bad injury and the 2022 victory over Manchester City featuring Alisson Becker assisting Mohamed Salah for the only goal.

The Egyptian was heavily involved in this sense against Villa too; no surprise when he’s scored 24 of Liverpool’s last 55 counter goals in the league, with about as many shots as the next four men in the standings combined. He hasn’t been the team’s most frequent creator or shooter of fast break chances in 2024/25 though.