We’ve been collecting Pressing Stats since 2013 on Anfield Index and after watching Southampton beat Liverpool at St Mary’s I expected an easier time when manually collecting these pressing stats. It was a close run thing Liverpool pressed more than they did against Crystal Palace but Southampton had much more of the ball than Palace did and Liverpool pressed the ball every 2.84 passes that Southampton attempted – that’s the worst it’s been since the loss at Watford. Whilst Liverpool will always miss Roberto Firmino’s in terms of his goals and assists output he is also the best this season at pressing the ball. In his absence it was Emre Can that stood up and pressed the ball every 2.85 minutes during the game, the best in the Liverpool side.
A momentum killer for Liverpool but was it really that bad a performance? What did the stats point out? We talk about it all on the Under Pressure Podcast and you can have a listen to the podcast via the embed option or downloading via the link below.
The podcast embedded above has all the analysis and the images below support the content so please do have a listen and any feedback either on this article on the @AnfieldIndex Twitter account is appreciated!
It was certainly a game of two halves against Southampton hopefully the pressing maps below show how Liverpool were forced to press more down the right in the second half, coincidentally that’s where Martin Skrtel was brought on to play! These stats will help you visual how hard the Liverpool players worked off of the ball in each of the games. I hope they can help you look at the game a little differently!
Break down of player pressing vs Southampton can be found below.
Liverpool Pressing Vs Southampton
First Half Vs Southampton
2nd Half Vs Southampton
You can see in the image below that the pressing decreases in the left defensive area (Liverpool shooting right to left for all images) and all of a sudden there’s an increase down the right. This came about with the introduction of Martin Skrtel as Southampton started to attack more down Liverpool’s right and their left. This forced Liverpool to press more in this area as shown below.
Coutinho Efficiency takes a hit
Whilst Coutinho scored another brilliant goal last night his pressing wasn’t as good. In fact it was the worst in terms of efficiency from any Liverpool player on the day. The orange x below shows how many pressing actions failed from Coutinho on Sunday – by far the least efficient on the field.
Emre Can – Like a Boss
Emre Can is really becoming one of Jurgen Klopp’s most trusted players. The German international had another brilliant game off the ball. The most pressing actions attempted with 33 and the most frequent presser with an action every 2.85 minutes. His efficiency of 85% was excellent too.
Make sure you listen to the podcast shared above for the full analysis. Much more to come on Anfield Index in the coming weeks!
hi guys,
good pod, been listening everyday!
just wondering, can i have like a link or an stat
about emre can comparing to other player in the league
that you guys mention early on show?
i’m from thailand, and a loooooot of fans in our community
who didn’t care about stat are losing fate in our potential
captain. if only they know his position compare to the light of
cazorla and ramsey, i think it will be a good prove that this
player are our bright future for sure!
cheers mate!
ps. why did you guys calling firmino bobby? dieing to know that!
@pudding
Roberto [Firmino] -> Robby -> Bobby