Injury, international tournaments and even kidnap have worked against Liverpool to prevent their front three from starting more than nine Premier League games together this season, but it seems Jürgen Klopp has settled on a first-choice attack as he aims to end his reign with a second title.
Before there was Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, but things have changed amid a rebuild. Salah remains but his assistants are different; Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez have settled after arriving from Portugal, joining the Egyptian in attack for the past three matches. Salah offers a cool head and consistency while the South American duo bring chaos and unpredictability.
Salah has scored eight goals when starting alongside the Colombian Díaz and the Uruguayan Núñez in the league but Manchester United came to Anfield and parked the bus before clamping it inside their penalty area to keep out the home side’s forwards, becoming the only team to keep a clean sheet against Liverpool this season. United also eliminated Klopp’s side from the FA Cup last month, meaning revenge is on the agenda at Old Trafford on Sunday.
In their win over Brighton last Sunday, Liverpool had 30 shots – 12 of which were Salah’s – to show their creativity is peaking at the right time. There were another 29 shots collectively against Sheffield United, making it a useful point to come up against a side with a porous defence. Manchester United have faced the most shots in the league, 209, since the start of February in nine matches and there will undoubtedly be plenty of chances available.
The form and fitness of others have been factors for Klopp; Cody Gakpo has started only 12 league games, in addition to 15 substitute appearances, while Diogo Jota is out with a knee problem. The Portuguese is averaging a goal every 80 minutes this season and has been Liverpool’s most clinical forward, converting 31% of his shots, compared with Salah’s 25% success rate, dropping to 23% in the league, which is on par with its top scorer, Erling Haaland.
Núñez and Díaz cannot compete with either teammate’s efficiency, converting 15% and 18% of chances across all competitions. The Uruguayan has 11 Premier League goals, making him before this weekend the joint 11th highest scorer in the competition alongside Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood, who has a 46% conversion rate and is averaging a goal every 82 minutes.
Liverpool have created the most “big chances”, where a player can be reasonably expected to score. The Reds have notched 79, four more than Manchester City and 17 ahead of Arsenal, who have managed two more goals. It is an indication that Liverpool need to be more clinical but their prolific creativity is papering over the fissures.
Producing so many chances despite often playing against teams who impose a low block is testament to Liverpool’s ingenuity, aided by their architects of chaos Núñez and Díaz. The former has 30 goal contributions this season, a key indication of his importance even if he does not conform to what some might want from a No 9.
This latest incarnation of Klopp’s Liverpool are relentless – regardless of the situation, their effort is never in question. Against Sheffield United they had 83.1% possession, the highest since Premier League records began. It helped tire out the Blades and earn two more late goals, taking their tally to a league-leading 26 in the final 15 minutes (plus stoppages) of matches, 10 more than the second best total. It is hard to stop a team who have so much possession and the shots to match. Every team wants to be scoring more but Liverpool are doing the business when the pressure is on to salvage a win.
In rugby union there are specialist “finishers” who come off the bench when legs are tiring to see things through. Liverpool’s use of substitutes is similar, resulting in 49 goal contributions from replacements. Even if the starters are not taking their chances, they are often tiring out the opponents so their teammates can inflict damage late on. For the third goal against Sheffield United two substitutes combined when Gakpo produced an intelligent run and header from a sublime Andy Robertson cross.
As United proved once more against Chelsea they are easy to cut open, error-prone and guilty of falling asleep at set pieces. They are unlikely to resurrect the defensive style that worked effectively at Anfield, instead will go toe-to-toe, as Erik ten Hag likes to say, in an attempt to replicate the entertaining FA Cup quarter-final win three weeks ago.
Klopp says he is going to enjoy the run-in regardless and there is plenty of pleasure to be taken from what Liverpool are doing as they battle for the title, even if it might come with a little frustration. The eventual champions are likely to be decided by the finest of margins and Liverpool will not want to fall foul of dropping points by not taking their chances.
