Liverpool are giving Jurgen Klopp and his replacement big problems in two areas
Attack needs overhaul
There was always going to come a moment when Liverpool’s free-scoring forward line, as with any attack, started firing blanks. But rarely can it have happened at such an inopportune time.
Having frittered away chances to win at Manchester United last weekend and then had sufficient opportunity to give themselves a fighting chance for the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta on Thursday, the Reds were once again undone by their wastefulness.
Those who hold great stock in such arbitrary metrics will have noted Liverpool’s xG – expected goals – total of 2.87 was their most in a Premier League game in which they have failed to score since such records began in 2010. Indeed, not since Brighton two years ago has any side been so profligate.
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Worryingly, the forward line looks as exhausted as the rest of the team, even if all still had good opportunities to score. Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were both thwarted by unwittingly brilliant saves by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, while Mohamed Salah saw a late effort blocked.
Even Diogo Jota should have scored when denied by a block from former Liverpool man Nathaniel Clyne with Henderson nowhere, while fellow substitute Cody Gakpo was again the only forward to show any real verve. Gakpo and Jota are both musts to start in Italy on Thursday. It’s time to shake up the attack.
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There had been a fear among some that Liverpool’s season could have fallen apart once Alisson Becker, arguably their player of the campaign,
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