Liverpool Need to Correct Poor Away Record Against Promoted Sides
Liverpool have a huge opportunity to make up some ground in the title race, when they travel to Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
Off the back of a chaotic 4-3 victory over Fulham on Sunday, the Reds sit just two points off the top of the Premier League table.
The Blades sit rock bottom in the Premier League and have just sacked their manager Paul Heckingbottom after their 5-0 demolition at Burnley on Saturday.
Chris Wilder will return to the dugout as he looks to try and keep United in the top division.
However, away games against newly promoted sides have proved a difficult task for Jurgen Klopp’s side over recent years.
Liverpool have just two wins in their last seven away clashes with newly promoted sides, and just one win in their last five.
Today we’re going to be looking back at those last five games and where it potentially went wrong for the Reds.
05/11/23- Luton Town 1-1 Liverpool
Earlier this season, Liverpool were tipped to come out comfortable winners against Luton Town.
The Reds dominated the opening 25 minutes, with Darwin Nunez having four shots on goal and hitting the crossbar once.
However, Liverpool were punished for those missed chances as the Hatters grabbed what seemed to be a late winner.
Manchester United academy graduate Tahith Chong put the home side ahead, before Luis Diaz spared the Reds’ blushes with a stoppage time equaliser.
On this occasion, many suggested that complacency played a huge part in Liverpool’s performance but also the huge number of missed chances undoubtedly flipped the game on it’s head.
11/03/23- Bournemouth 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool’s lack of attacking output against a low-block side proved to be a huge issue, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth last season.
In the midst of a push for Champions League football, anything other than a victory would be a disaster.
A number of defensive errors eventually cost the Reds as the Cherries took an early lead in the game.
Mohamed Salah had the perfect chance to level the scoring from the spot after Diogo Jota’s header was blocked by an arm.
The Egyptian King put the ball wide, ultimately confirming a huge blow to the Reds’ Champions League hopes.
22/10/23- Nottingham Forest 1-0 Liverpool
Earlier in the same season, Nottingham Forest added insult to injury as Liverpool suffered the worst start to a Premier League season in decades.
First game back after the international break, saw Jurgen Klopp’s side travel to Nottingham Forest with a number of absences.
But that’s no excuse for the awful performance we saw from the Reds that day.
Former Red Taiwo Awoniyi bundled the ball home to hand his new side the three points, after not making a single appearance during his time on Merseyside.
06/08/22- Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
On the opening game of the 2022/23 season, Liverpool travelled to face a newly promoted Fulham side.
Alexander Mitrovic opened the scoring in the first half, pouncing on a defensive error from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool’s brand new £84million striker, Darwin Nunez, came off the bench to level the score with a fantastic back-heel finish.
But that lead didn’t last long, as Virgil Van Dijk brought Mitrovic down in the penalty area soon after.
The Serbian stepped up to comfortably convert the penalty, but Mohamed Salah grabbed a late goal to secure a point for the Reds.
I think it’s fair to say that this was a fair representation of how the rest of Liverpool’s season would go, finishing the season in 5th place.
16/10/21- Watford 0-5 Liverpool
You’d have to go all the way back to the beginning of the famous 2021/22 season to see Liverpool last away victory against a newly promoted team.
But what a win it was, with Roberto Firmino grabbing a hat-trick to send Liverpool on their way to a push for the Quadruple.
Mohamed Salah also scored one of the best solo goals you will see in that game, whilst also grabbing one of the best assists you will see as he set up Sadio Mane to open the scoring.
This is the kind of clinical and water-tight performance that has been missing in a lot of Liverpool’s recent battles against newly promoted sides.
Hopefully, there will be no signs of any complacency against Sheffield United on Wednesday night and the Reds can grab another three points.