The DNA of Liverpool Goals

Excerpts From November 2021, By Andrew Beasley

As per usual each month on TTT, Andrew Beasley has dug deep into the DNA of the Reds’ goals, this time for November 2021.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the piece, which is paywalled on the main site.

Liverpool only played five matches in November but still found time to score 14 goals; one every 32 minutes of match time. Had all the goals they conceded not occurred at the London Stadium, it may well have been a perfect month.

Something in the way

Liverpool create a hell of a lot of good goal scoring opportunities. After their recent 1-0 win at Molineux, the Reds had amassed 59 Opta-defined clear-cut chances across their opening 15 league matches of the campaign. When any team which averages three is among the most creative teams the Premier League has ever seen, to be a shade under four (thanks mainly to Romain Saïss) is truly remarkable.

Goal involvement

Alexander-Arnold scored, set up or played the pre-assist for eight of Liverpool’s 14 goals in November. Without wishing to underplay his vital contributions, we have come to expect such things from the Reds’ right-back.

One player who has seen a shift though is Jordan Henderson. Jürgen Klopp’s side scored eight open play goals while their skipper was on the pitch and he played a part in six of them. More significantly, he got the pre-assist four times, when he only made six such passes in the whole of 2020/21 (though of course he was hamstrung by injuries and filling in at centre-back).

Henderson also directly assisted Salah’s goal against Porto, leaving the previously discussed Minamino goal as the one in which he played a part but earlier than the second-last pass of the move. Even then, for that goal he sent a pass from the centre circle to the edge of the Arsenal box so his input was undoubtedly worthwhile.

Here are the involvement figures for the season as a whole (to the end of November).

Is Henderson the latest beneficiary of the tactical switch which has seen Liverpool’s right midfielder take up more advanced positions while Alexander-Arnold moves more centrally? Salah’s Porto goal would suggest so, as would the captain’s pass to Trent prior to his cross for Jota against Atletico Madrid.

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