Liverpool are the early leaders for the best defence in the league competition.
Yet while there has been plenty of talk about the impact of Arne Slot’s possession-based philosophy, less remarked upon is that his side have conceded just two league goals in their opening seven games — four fewer than the joint-second lowest, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
In their 10 matches in all competitions, they have conceded just four goals and kept six clean sheets. That is a significant improvement from last season when they kept the same amount of clean sheets in their final 27 games.
The underlying numbers are also encouraging. Their 64 shots conceded (including blocks) is the third-fewest behind Tottenham (61) and Manchester City (56) and they have the division’s lowest expected goals against — a measure of how likely it is a team will concede during a match based on opposition chances — over seven Premier League games (5.2).
Liverpool have had favourable fixtures so far, which Slot has pointed out at every given opportunity, and it is a very small sample size with so few matches played. But, as the saying goes, you can only play what is in front of you and so far it is going well.
“Defence wins championships,” Trent Alexander-Arnold told reporters following Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over AFC Bournemouth and that has been echoed by his fellow defenders.
There was an acknowledgement among players last season that they were giving away too many chances and shooting opportunities compared to title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City. Solving that had to be high on Slot’s list of areas to improve.
So far this season, Liverpool’s back four have looked like a cohesive unit. Selection consistency has helped. Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk have started every league and Champions League game. Since coming on as a substitute on the opening day, Ibrahima Konate has, too. Andy Robertson has been rotated with Kostas Tsimikas on a handful of occasions.
“Duels” became an early buzzword for Slot after his frustration with the opening 45 minutes against Ipswich. That appears to have made an impact as he has not had to publicly air any frustrations since.
The centre-back pairing of Konate and Van Dijk has set the tone. Of Premier League defenders who have contested at least 20 aerial duels, Konate ranks first in success rate (86.2 per cent), while Van Dijk ranks fourth (73.2 per cent).
In front of them, Ryan Gravenberch has been equally important and dominant. Of Premier League midfielders who have contested over 40 duels, he ranks third in success rate (64.1 per cent). He is in the top three midfielders for ball recoveries (42) and interceptions (12).
Getting a shot on goal has become much more difficult for opponents. Ipswich had just one shot in the second half when Liverpool stamped their authority on the game, until the 98th minute when they had a couple. Brentford’s final shot came in the 56th minute. AC Milan didn’t have a shot between the 14th and 74th minute. Crystal Palace had only had one shot by the 64th minute.
In trying to understand why, it is important to note that Liverpool’s passing accuracy has barely changed. Compared to 2023-24 in the Premier League, it has increased from 85.8 to 86.7. In the opposition half, accuracy has increased from 80.8 to 81.7, while in their own half, it went from 92 to 91.9.
There has not been a significant impact on the number of direct attacks Liverpool are facing either.
It therefore points to them dealing with those situations better — helped by the more compact shape Slot has implemented, but also the slight tactical tweak of returning Alexander-Arnold and Robertson to more natural full-back roles and operating with a deeper double pivot rather than a single pivot.
“We looked a bit more secure defensively and had a lot more control,” Robertson told Sky Sports following the 3-0 victory over Manchester United in September. “They always say clean sheets will win you things and that’s always been the case when Manchester City have won the league and when we did.”
Under Klopp, when Liverpool were set defensively, they were never easy to play through. The problem was that because they were so frequently in transition due to gegenpressing, chaos ruled.
The goal Liverpool conceded against Wolverhampton Wanderers last month came similarly. It could have been avoided for several reasons, but the attack began because Gary O’Neil’s side broke through the high press, which was even more aggressive than usual.
Mario Lemina burst past Dominik Szoboszlai and Gravenberch, instantly creating a five-on-five attack with Alexis Mac Allister as the lone No 6 and unable to cover the length of the pitch. That was a theme of recent seasons, but much less so now.
What have been more prominent are examples such as below when Liverpool lose possession while on the attack. But again they are dealing with such breakdowns. As Wolves attempted to break, we could see the red shirts flooding backwards, with Szoboszlai covering Alexander-Arnold.
Horizontal to him is the double pivot recovering, giving Slot’s side the numerical advantage and forcing Wolves backwards, eventually playing back into their own half and allowing Liverpool to set up in their 4-2-4 out-of-possession shape.
The clip begins a four-minute period when Liverpool are unable to retain possession, but defensively it is impressive.
Every time Wolves approach Liverpool’s area, they are repelled by solid box defending through interceptions, tackles and clearances. Everybody chips in. It is the kind of defending that has led to them restricting opponents to the least amount of touches in the box so far (122).
The recovery running has been impressive, too. Here, it helped negate a potentially dangerous Brentford counter-attack. Almost instantly Liverpool have plenty of bodies back…
Scoring the first goal may have helped, too. Only twice have Liverpool been behind this season.
So, they’ve kicked the habit of conceding the first goal in every game, right? Kind of.
Since the Nottingham Forest defeat — the first time Slot’s side conceded first — the opposition have had the ball in the back of the net before Liverpool in five of the last seven games. Fortunately, four of them have been ruled offside.
There are two ways of looking at that. The glass-half-full view is there is nothing to worry about and the defensive unit’s discipline and structure is catching the opposition offside. The glass-half-empty opinion is Liverpool are yet to shake off their slow starts and will eventually be punished by better opposition.
Vulnerabilities have also been shown from set pieces, with some sides creating their best chances via this method. The risks that come with building from the back have also nearly caught Liverpool out on a few occasions.
These areas will be tested further as the standard of opposition increases. In the matches played so far, however, Liverpool have set an impressive platform defensively. Now they must sustain it.
(Top photo: Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate; by Marco Luzzani via Getty Images)
