Klopp’s team are in trouble – Has Liverpool’s leaky defence cost them the league title?

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Season over? 

Liverpool’s hopes of finishing this season with some form of silverware to show for Jürgen Klopp’s final year at the club hang by a thread, following back-to-back defeats in the Europa League and Premier League. Fans around Europe were left shocked last week, when Serie A side Atalanta took the initiative in the first leg to bag a 3-0 in England. Then, just a few days later, Crystal Palace repeated the trick by claiming a 1-0 win at Anfield, leaving Liverpool’s title hopes in tatters. 

Such has been the dramatic turnaround in form that Liverpool fans have been left wondering whether their season has already come to an end, before they even had an opportunity to get excited for the conclusion to both competitions. And, closer to home, Klopp and his backroom staff will likely be wondering what has suddenly gone so wrong for a team that has spent almost one third of the league campaign in first place. So where do the issues lie in this Liverpool team and can they be fixed before the end of the season? 

Indeed, Sunday’s defeat now means that Liverpool sit level on points with Arsenal and just two points behind Manchester City. But many of the underlying stats for this season’s English top-flight suggest that Klopp’s team have underperformed compared to their two domestic rivals. Especially when we consider how many goals the Anfield side have conceded in the Premier League. For example, in the last 10 match days, Klopp’s side have conceded 12 goals in the league. Which is as many goals as Arsenal and Man City have conceded between them.  

However, Liverpool’s defensive frailties don’t end there. When we look at when the club conceded their goals, we find that Klopp’s team have shipped no less than 61% of the 31 goals they’ve conceded in the league to date in the first half. That, interestingly enough, is the highest proportion for any club in the Premier League this season. And, to no great surprise, means that the Anfield side have gone behind in league games this season on 16 occasions – far more than Man City’s 13 and Arsenal’s nine. Which has had huge implications on their ability to keep up in the title race this season. 

When we look at Liverpool’s ability to fight back after going a goal down, we find that no other club has won more points from losing positions than Klopp’s side. That, undoubtedly, shows a degree of hard work and resilience that many often attribute to Klopp teams. But the flip side of that stat is the simple fact that Liverpool have also dropped 21 points after going behind in the league this season. And that number is higher than Arsenal’s 19 points and far higher than Man City’s 15 points. Which may go some way to explaining why the Anfield club now find themselves chasing Pep Guardiola’s side as we approach the final stretch of games in this season’s title race. 

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