Deep Dive on Arne Slot’s Liverpool in Possession… and how does it compare to Klopp’s sides

Written on 30/10/2024

The sample size is an important aspect to consider when analysing team or player data in search of trends or habits. Hence, I waited until gameweek nine of this Premier League season to collect the necessary data that would help in analysing how Liverpool have been playing under the new boss Arne Slot.

The metrics looked at in this article will predominantly relate to how Slot’s team is functioning on the ball. The focus will be on where they are in the league and its trends so far this season. We also compare the numbers from the last few seasons to discover the changes/similarities from the previous regime under Jürgen Klopp.

Premier League Teams Possession Numbers 24/25 Season: ft. Liverpool

The first part of the article will focus on how Liverpool’s possession and attacking numbers are faring this season compared to the other 19 teams in the league.

The Reds are one of the few teams who do not mind mixing things up and using both short and long passes in their possession game. It is no surprise seeing the likes of Everton and Brentford using long balls more than anyone in the division. In contrast, Southampton, along with Manchester City, use long balls the fewest times.

Even though Slot explained the advantage of having the back-four narrow in the build-up and playing short passes between them before exploring a pass to the midfield, Liverpool have not shied away from switching play, especially with Virgil van Dijk looking for that diagonal switch towards Mohamed Salah or Trent Alexander-Arnold from right to left.

City do not use that because of the hybrid fullbacks tucking in midfield and the emphasis on playing through the middle thirds. For that reason, they and Aston Villa (another team with very few switches of play) are top when it comes to building most attacks through the middle.

In terms of through balls, while Liverpool tried that a few times with Dominik Szoboszlai being the link man (number 10), they can open teams from the sides as well.

With over 300 middle-third touches per 90, Liverpool are leading the league in that metric so far. There isn’t this hurry to play the ball from back to front. In fact, and we will look at the visual later in the article, their percentage of touches in the defensive third has increased. It has much to do with Slot wanting to be patient with the ball at the back and subsequently dominate teams in the middle third with the midfielders having an element of control to their game. Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch are key to that. Szoboszlai adds pace to the midfield.