5 stats to give Liverpool hope in the Premier League
By David Gate
No. 1: Clean Sheet Record
But I thought our goalkeeper and defense were awful? They are but they are weird about it. Over the last 15 Premier League games Liverpool rank second for clean sheets with 8 in that span. Manchester United are first with 10 shut outs.
In the last 15 games we have more clean sheets than not. It highlights a very strange quirk about Jurgen Klopp’s system; it is particularly vulnerable for individual mistakes. The manager has been very defensive of the system itself. Pointing out that it is errors – often seemingly inexplicable errors – that put us in trouble.
This stat backs that up. That doesn’t account for why we have not bought defenders with better decision-making and confidence . Nor does it explain why we haven’t adapted the system to accommodate the defenders we ACTUALLY have.
Clean sheets in last 15 PL games:
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) October 30, 2017
Man United - 10
Liverpool - 8
Man City - 8
Arsenal - 7
Chelsea - 7
Tottenham - 6
However it does give you hope that if we find stronger minded defenders (Virgil van Dijk) or if our defenders can dramatically cut down on their errors – as Alberto Moreno has done – then the system can work very effectively.