Stat of the Match: Liverpool 2-0 Brentford

Retune your dials into the 90s, folks

Liverpool have begun a Premier League season with consecutive wins to nil for only the sixth time. It proves nothing; 2002/03 was a poor campaign overall in which they did this while Brendan Rodgers didn’t last much longer after beating Stoke then Bournemouth 1-0 in 2015/16, for instance. But there are much worse ways to start a season, especially under a new head coach.

On the headline numbers, the wins over Ipswich and Brentford were very similar. As well as both ending 2-0, the matches saw Liverpool have 62 per cent possession, with the expected goal figures at each end of the pitch only differing by 0.1 between the games. When a side has at least 2.5 xG itself while giving up no more than 0.5 in successive fixtures, both two-goal wins were deserved.

One major difference between the matches was very welcome in two regards. Liverpool did not have to wait until the second half to break the deadlock against Brentford as they had at Portman Road, with Luis Díaz’ goal ending a run of 33 shots from counter attacks which had gone unconverted.

Having recently investigated the Reds’ slight issue with their shots last season on here, it was pleasing to see the positive start at Portman Road continued at Anfield on Sunday. Liverpool had one more shot against the Bees but only at the expense of 0.01 off the average shot value.

Arne Slot’s new side are playing consistently (at least for the last three halves), recording high quality benchmarks they will be measured against if this form continues. Rather than shots, though, this weeks stand out stat relates to passing.

The review of the triumph over the Tractor Boys focussed on penalty box touches and the differences between how data is presented. For the Brentford game, we have to consider when a pass is not a pass.

The above image shows that Liverpool had their best passing success rate in a Premier League match since records began. The Stats Zone app had the figure at 91.5, which if you search on FBRef, is the joint-12th highest in the English top flight since the summer of 2017.

However, data for new matches only appears on FBRef overnight. A look at their pass stats for this week gives the Reds an accuracy hit rate of 89.7 per cent; still very good, but not as high as first thought.

It appears the first pass figure does not include throw-ins or crosses, whereas the latter does. The discrepancy does not stop the Brentford game from being an elite passing performance.

On FBRef’s definition, it is Liverpool’s third highest completion rate in their last 268 league matches. It is top when looking at games with more than 13 successful passes into the penalty area - there were 18 - and it is the best match in the seven season sample for accuracy of short passes (at 96.4 per cent).

It takes a fantastic team effort to hit these heights. Constantly offering angles and options ensured that no Liverpool player misplaced more than three short passes. The progression through triangles which is starting to become a trademark of Slot’s Reds was perhaps best illustrated by a fantastic move on the hour mark. It also illustrated that Virgil van Dijk’s trademark diagonal passes have thankfully not been consigned to history just yet.

The top player for completing short passes, who also attempted the second most overall, was Ryan Gravenberch.

His total of 50 passes completed in the opposition half is the joint-fifth most by any player in this fledgling 2024/25 Premier League season. Gravenberch’s position in the standings is notable as the men who have bettered him were either playing 10-man Newcastle last weekend or for Manchester City against Ipswich on Saturday.

This was a tougher task than either of those, and in this regard specifically. Liverpool had played six previous Premier League matches against Brentford, with a fairly consistent pass accuracy of between 77.8 and 81.1 per cent each time, home or away. Among the 21 teams the Reds have faced at least six times since the summer of 2017, only against City has their average been lower, and by just 0.2 per cent at that.

But against no side has it been lower at Anfield. Liverpool faced their pass success nemesis on home turf and passed them off the park.

Killed them with passes, Slot might say. Liverpool head to Old Trafford next, a ground at which they completed 88.3 per cent of their passes on their way to winning 5-0 in 2021. A repeat of both of these numbers on Sunday and people will really start paying attention.