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It's one Premier League record Jurgen Klopp won't be dwelling on for too long once he leaves Anfield for good inside the next fortnight.

But it goes some way to explaining why his evolving Liverpool side were unable to keep pace with Manchester City and Arsenal in the title challenge over the closing weeks.

The concession of two late goals in the enjoyable 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend meant the Reds have now gone nine league games without a clean sheet in the Premier League. That's the longest such run during a course of a season under Klopp, with Liverpool having matched it during the closing weeks of the 2015/16 campaign and the start of 2016/17.

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The Reds have managed to ensure only nine top-flight shutouts this term. Compare that to the tally of 11 from City and a whopping 17 of Arsenal. And the importance of keeping a clean sheet was underlined during the last month - had Liverpool kept just two more at Manchester United and West Ham United, games in which they led, then they'd be four points better off and still very much in contention for the championship.

Given Klopp's side have lost only four league games all season - fewer than leaders Arsenal - then such draws are what have ultimately proven costly.

And with only two games now remaining, Liverpool are guaranteed to post their lowest number of Premier League clean sheets over a full campaign under the departing manager. The previous fewest was 12 in the 2016/17 and 2020/21 seasons while the most came in 2021/22, when they totalled 21 league shut-outs.

Undoubtedly, the Reds have not been