Liverpool’s defending has come under severe criticism throughout this season and in the vast majority of matches the condemnation has unfortunately been fully merited. The Reds’ attack had remained strong throughout the campaign but even that has started to fall away too.
At the World Cup break, Liverpool averaged 2.11 non-penalty expected goals per league match in 2022/23, the best in the Premier League (per Understat). While that figure hasn’t dropped drastically, Jurgen Klopp’s side have fallen to third in the division, likely as a result of trying to be more solid to guard against the issues at the other end.
A simple metric highlights their current issues. Opta classify chances where you would expect the attacker to score to be clear-cut (or 'big', as they are also known). The Reds have had 60 of them in the league this season, second only to Manchester City. They have been thin on the ground in recent games in all competitions though.
