With the EPL season over and Liverpool’s first title in 30 years won, now is a time to look back at the season in a uniquely “Forensic Kop” way: looking at the year end statistics (beyond the standard wins and losses) and seeing what they say about the players.
(Also check out our LFC Core podcast where we discuss these statistics!)
The Statistics
In the true Forensic Kop fashion, statistics were reviewed and similar to previous articles, the more interesting and thoughtful of them have been presented. In order to establish the baseline for all of the statistics, please note:
- These statistics were primarily sourced from Who Scored website
- These statistics are only from EPL games
- Per Game is a total per 90 minutes
Most Minutes Played
Unsurprisingly Virgil Van Dijk played the most minutes by a wide margin. Our defensive stalwart played over 2.5 games more than the player with the second most minutes played: Alexander Arnold. A bit surprisingly the most minutes played in midfield went to Gini Wijnaldum and the most minutes for a forward went to Roberto Firmino, both stats indicating the level of trust and belief manager Jurgen Klopp has in those players. While Gini is criticized for his unexciting play and Firmino for not scoring enough, it is clear that Klopp sees these players as essential to Liverpool’s tactics and that shows in their playing time.
Most Assists
The friendly race between between the two fullbacks Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson was close this year, with Alexander-Arnold barely winning the contest with 13 assists to Robertson’s 12. Both are team high numbers, and again show the type of system that Klopp runs, using the wing back as attacking threats to set up goal chances.
Most Headers Won per Game
As would be expected, the Liverpool central defenders carry this category. A bit of a surprise though to see Joel Matip having the most aerials won per game at 5.2, edging out Van Dijk who had 5.0. The larger issue seen in these statistics is that Joe Gomez is at only 2.5 aerials won per game, which sadly is not surprising given this is an area of concern for the younger defender. Having half the headers won that his defensive partner has is something that will need to be addressed in future for him to be able to reach the elite status he seems destined for.
Most Tackles per Game
By leading in this statistic, we have an affirmation of the strength Fabinho has brought to the team as the holding midfielder. He played well throughout the year and this is evidence of that. Right behind Fabinho is captain Jordan Henderson who can also be counted on to make an important tackle as well.
Most Fouls per Game
While the expectation may be that this category would be dedicated to the midfielders and the defenders, it is another surprise to see Sadio Mane leading here. His work ethic not only up the field but coming back, along with what seems to be a bit of a hot streak, is a testament to why he has earned top billing in this category.
Most Dribbled Past per Game
Fabinho is well ahead of the rest of the team in this category. To be sure, he is more often than other players to be called on to stop an offensive player, but he is almost half a point above even the second place teammate, perhaps suggesting an area of improvement in future.
Most Blocks per Game
While at first glance seeing Dejan Lovren leading this group might be a surprise, unfortunately after a bit of thought it becomes clear that he often enough makes errors and finds himself in a position where he has to block a shot that perhaps should have been avoided.
Lovren diving (twice!) to block a shot
Least Shots per Game (of the front 3)
Shots per game is clearly dominated by the top three, however it is interesting to find that while Mohamed Salah leads with almost 4 shots per game, Firmino is in second and it is Mane who takes the least of the group. In fact with just over 2 shots per game, Mane is at almost half of Salah’s total, which makes it all the more impressive and efficient that he scored only one goal less that Salah.
Most Successful Dribbles per Game
While most would expect to see Salah carry this category, it is in fact Mane who holds first place with 2 successful dribbles per game, while Salah is in second place on the team with “only” 1.5. This again speaks to the efficiency and brilliance of Mane with this statistic showing why he is so dangerous in attacking one on one.
Most Fouled Player per Game
No surprise here as it is Sadio Mane averaging 1.5 fouls drawn per game with no other Liverpool played even averaging 1. Mane’s hard work in drawing fouls is most likely a product of his fantastic ability to dribble past players who then feel the need to bring him down.
Most Passes Per Game (of Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold)
A bit surprisingly, Andy Robertson averaged more passes than Alexander-Arnold, by about 5 passes a game. This could be more a product of the manic running that the fullback provides and the give and go plays that he is part of, however it is an impressive statistic considering the excellence in passing that Alexander-Arnold brings. As a corollary to this statistic, is the number of key passes per game. Alexander Arnold is not surprisingly well ahead of all teammates, which is more in line with the belief that more opportunities are generated down that side of the field.
Most Long Balls per Game
While the exact definition in terms of yards is not clear when it comes to successful long balls, the expectation that the top Liverpool player would be Alexander-Arnold in this area. Surprisingly, he is in second place, with Van Dijk heading the team. Upon reflection there are a number of instances where Van Dijk used the long ball to spring one of the forwards, however it is interesting to note that he uses that pass more than anybody else on the team.
Another surprise is that between the two keepers, Adrian actually played more successful long balls per game that Alisson. Alisson’s ability in that area is quite impressive and Adrian did not previously have this type of pass in his repertoire, but when he joined the team he was put through an intense program of playing the ball out from the back, and it seems like that program was successful.
Most Through Balls per Game
The obvious answer for this would be Roberto Firmino, but surprisingly, Brazilian is not even in the top 10. First on the team is Naby Keita, a clear indication of the invention and creativity that he brings to the team and how much more dangerous they are when he is playing.
Shockingly is that in second place is Neco Williams, who in the limited time that he played showed there is a lot of skill to what he brings and may offer a bit of a different play using the through ball a bit more than the current backs who primarily use the cross into the middle.
Most Inaccurate Long Balls AND Inaccurate Short Passes per Game
This category is surprisingly taken by Alexander-Arnold. While the inaccurate long ball is a product of the constant crosses that he throws into the box, it is a surprise that he has twice as many inaccurate long balls per game than Robertson, who it seems is more precise and clinical. Alexander-Arnold is clearly more likely to throw the ball into the box and hope for a good result, which is undoubtably a product of Klopp’s game plan.
The more surprising statistic is that Alexander-Arnold is the Liverpool player with the most inaccurate short passes per game, and he is followed closely by Robertson, with the rest of the team significantly further behind. This is a product of how Liverpool plays, but it is a clear indicator for an area of improvement in future seasons.
Thoughts
While Klopp is more of a look and feel coach, the Liverpool management team sought to bolster the coaching staff with advanced analytics to help better develop players and find players with potential to bring to the team. And we can look back now and see how well that strategy has worked.
These statistics are a fun way for fans to look back on the season, guessing at the leader in each category and then debating how the actual leader arrived at that that position. However for the Liverpool coaching team, this is part of a much larger analytic analysis that is done on every Liverpool player, and most likely on opposition players to see trends that can be worked on for the Liverpool players, and the trends that can be exploited for the competition.
So Liverpool fans will look at these number presented and should realize that in the future season there will be work done with Gomez to improve his headers, conversations with Mane about his fouling, and work with Alexander-Arnold and Robertson on their passing accuracy. This of course will be among the many other items that will be worked on, but it would not be unreasonable to expect to see an improvement in these numbers when looking at them next year.
Daniel is a professionally designated accountant who has spent 20 years in the finance and data analytics field which has skewed his view of the sporting world. Instead of seeing simply an athletic competition, he sees a financial exercise waiting to be unlocked by data analysis. He enjoys reading professional publications such as the annual deloitte football report and team financials as well as spending hours putting together and analyzing football data, which saves his readers from having to do it themselves.
