Three key Stats From Last Season Liverpool And Klopp Need To Massively Improve This Year

The Game Of Numbers – Three Key Stats That Liverpool Should Improve This Season

Jurgen Klopp has made a serious impact on the squad at Anfield as after less than two years into his tenure at the club, he has taken them to the Champions League. Liverpool are not having the greatest time in the transfer market but may yet be able to land one or two of their transfer targets, which should be able to help them compete for silverware this season.

Klopp will want his side to challenge for the title and though he might add the best players available in Europe, Liverpool need to work on a few things that are pushing them down. They have been poor in many areas and their numbers from the previous season reflect as such.

So here are three such stats that Liverpool need to improve if they are to compete for the title this campaign:

Blocks (65)

The defence has been a major problem for the club, for more than a couple of seasons now and it does not come as a surprise that all three stats in this piece are regarding their backline. First up is ‘blocks’.

The Reds are usually late off the blocks in their defence and more often than not, leave loads of space in front of goal for their opponents. They made just 65 blocks all season in the league, which is the least for any club in the competition. They will surely have to work on this if they are to improve at the back this season. Just throw bodies around and show some commitment!

Clearances (877)

Next up is ‘clearances’. Jurgen Klopp is not really a manager who wants his side to play out from the back but Liverpool do tend to keep possession in their own area to try and find gaps in the middle of the field. So the defenders usually refrain from just thumping the ball out from the back, which is clear in the number of clearances they did last season. The 877 that they managed all campaign is better than just Chelsea and Arsenal, who deploy different systems.

Headed Clearances (451)

Probably the biggest issue that Liverpool have at the back, is their dominance in the air. Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren are decent in the air but the likes of Ragnar Klavan and Lucas Leiva played loads of games last season, which meant that they made just 451 headed clearances. That is the least for a club in the top flight last season and something needs to change quickly as these are not numbers that title challenging sides must be accumulating.

Stat Credit: Premierleague.com