Anfield Index

In this three part series of articles I will be looking at the statistics behind Liverpool's best and worst players in each position. After already conceding four more goals than last season, with three games still to be played, Liverpool's defenders have no doubt come under questioning this season. By starting to look at our defenders'...

We were asked a question on our twitter account; Which player is passed the ball the most? It was a question we couldn't answer as we didn't hold these stats. After some analysis and searching we've found some of the answers thanks to the Guardian.co.uk's excellent Chalkboard service which is run by Opta Data (just...

For a number of years now there has been much debate about who exactly makes up our best central defensive partnership. The 3 main players in this debate are the long serving Jamie Carragher, the misunderstood Martin Skrtel and the mostly injured Daniel Agger.

THE RACE for the Premier League's sole Europa League qualification place has fast become one that neither side really seems to want to win. Not least because the once beloved UEFA Cup has devolved into a cheap imitation of the Champions League with unenviable jaunts to former Eastern Bloc backwaters, but also the upheaval that...

Unlike previous seasons Liverpool have had to use three captains, due to injuries and suspension to our normal candidate Steven Gerrard. So far in Gerrard’s absence Jamie Carragher Liverpool’ s vice captain has taken the step up, but in both of their absences fan’s favourite Pepe Reina has made the arm band his own. But which...

I Called It! Another convincing victory for the mighty Reds at Anfield. We are now fifth overtaking Spurs on goal difference. Although Spurs have a game in hand Liverpool's quest for an European spot is back in their own hands as Spurs still have to come to Anfield. Liverpool were in control in...

Liverpool FC won their penultimate game at Anfield for the 2010/2011 season and took 5th spot in the Barclays Premier League meaning if they won all of their remaining games they'd have the chance to finish in a European spot which was looking increasing unlikely after the loss to West Brom a few weeks ago. Goals from Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez earned the win in which the scoreline didn't tell the full story.

It has certainly been a rough couple of years for Liverpool FC.  First there were the unwanted owners doing their upmost to ruin the club and then came the infighting at all levels; the boardroom, the coaching staff and players.  As if these problems weren’t enough, Liverpool were having to keep up with the...

We could sit here all day, and debate what areas of our current squad needs strengthening. We could also discuss potential targets, and how realistic a chance of a certain team accepting a bid, and a certain player joining.   In fact, I have read many a...

Over the years Liverpool have had some of the most accomplished penalty takers in the game, take the shot from 12 yards for them. Names like Neal, Mølby, Liddell and Gerrard, the list could go on. Overall Liverpool have had 75 different successful spot kick takers, since being founded in 1892. Liverpool have scored a total of 462 spot kicks since their first game nearly 119 years ago. The most prolific of our 75 spot kick takers was Jan Mølby, who converted 42 of his 45 penalties, closely follow by Phil Neal who scored 38, missing 13.

Since Dirk Kuyt’s signing for Liverpool in the summer of 2006 he has gained many plaudits but has also come across his fair share of negative press. For Liverpool fans he has been nothing short of brilliant since the £10million pound move from Holland. But this season again he has really risen above the pack and...

    We could sit here all day, and debate what areas of our current squad needs strengthening. We could also discuss potential targets, and how realistic a chance of a certain team accepting a bid, and a certain player joining.   In fact, I have read many a debate on the...

Maxi Rodriguez scored a hat trick as Liverpool ran riot at Anfield. It was the first time that Liverpool FC had scored more than 3 goals in a game this season and there was no better team to do it against. The Reds had drawn the last seven games against Birmingham City and they put that right in emphatic fashion.

    We could sit here all day, and debate what areas of our current squad needs strengthening. We could also discuss potential targets, and how realistic a chance of a certain team accepting a bid, and a certain player joining.   In fact, I have read many a debate on the the forums here...

This article is a follow up post to our first Striker Comparison: "Strikers: Value for Money? (Suarez, Bent & Torres)" and will be updated every two weeks (weekly if possible) with the latest stats on the five expensive strikers bought in the January transfer window. So we've updated the stats after a two week break (was away on vacation) and there are some changes as both Edin Dzeko and Fernando Torres opened their accounts with their first Premiership goals for their respective clubs.

  We could sit here all day, and debate what areas of our current squad needs strengthening. We could also discuss potential targets, and how realistic a chance of a certain team accepting a bid, and a certain player joining.   In fact, I have read many a debate on the the forums here (Anfield Index Forum),...

Liverpool shared the spoils at the Emirates Stadium after a controversial ending to the game. Eight minutes of injury time were added on because of Jamie Carraghar's accidental KO after a clash of heads with team-mate John Flanagan. The controversial part was that Liverpool were awarded a penalty after the eight minutes of injury time were remaining. Liverpool fans will argue that the time given to take Arsenal's penalty and the celebration afterwards is what was added on for Liverpool to then score.

Some say he is the driving force behind Liverpool, others have said he has been part of a one or two man side for quite some time. But what is the truth behind Gerrard’s influence on the Liverpool team? Since his inclusion in the team in the 1999-2000 Premier League campaign Gerrard has won 51% of...

After the convincing 3-0 win against Manchester City on Monday night, Liverpool will aim to make it two wins in a week against top-four sides as they travel to the Emirates Stadium this Sunday. The two sides met on the opening day of this year's Premier League season at Anfield in Roy Hodgson's first league match in charge of Liverpool, where the scoreline ended 1-1.

Have you ever looked at a team sheet, seen a player on it you didn’t rate, and think “S***, we’re in trouble now”? I know I have. Mind you, I think as LFC fans, cowering in terror at some of the names we hear announced on our team sheets has become pretty much an occupational hazard in recent seasons. We have been truly blessed as a club to have so many legends and great players (picking even a best 11 is horrendously difficult when you consider that you would only be able to pick two from Rush, Dalglish, Fowler, Keegan, Hunt, Toshack, Liddell, Owen, Torres, amongst others), but we’ve had our share of stinkers as well.

Liverpool FC have had an absolute storming match at Anfield Vs Manchester City. They have beaten the Champions League hopefuls by 3 goals to nil with a couple of special strikes from Andy Carroll. It is also the first time that Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez are starting at Anfield and what a night to grace Anfield. Please find the Full Time statistics below:

The first part of this two part series concentrated on defending and some shooting stats. In this second instalment we're going to be concentrating on the creative aspects of Glen Johson and Martin Kelly's play. We'll be covering passing, chances created, crossing and successful dribbles.

The longest myth going about Lucas, has been that he only plays the simple pass, and this is mainly sideways, or back-wards. This brief post is aimed to demonstrate he really doesn't, and I have taken 3 randomly selected games from this season which Lucas featured in to help explain.

Goals are everything in football, but i'm guessing you all know that already. What is interesting to look at though, is when the goals actually come - meaning at what point in the game are they scored. We hear all to often of teams who leave it late to win the game, often enough that is applied to Liverpool - but is there any truth in it??

Liverpool's defense has suffered some serious injury blows in the last few days. Daniel Agger has been ruled out for the rest of the season whilst both Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly will miss the majority of it as they're facing another three to four weeks out. We thought it was a good time to compare our fullbacks but this time with a twist. So in this two part series we're going to compare Glen Johnson with Martin Kelly and... Glen Johnson. Yes, you read that right. We'll be comparing Glen Johnson the left back to see how he's performed in this position since Kenny Dalglish arrived at the club against his performances at right back. Martin Kelly's introductory season in the Premier League which was bolstered by Kenny's arrival.

Player transfers were one of many things Liverpool managed poorly last summer, as Christian Purslow and Roy Hodgson oversaw some woeful signings and ludicrous sales. The arrivals of promising prospects Jonjo Shelvey and Danny Wilson were tied up by Rafa Benitez, who also sanctioned the signing of Bosman flop Milan Jovanovic. Following the Spaniards sacking, Hodgson and Purslow were active in the market themselves. Joe Cole and Fabio Aurelio were signed on free transfers, but in deals that will cost the club a lot of money in the long term; wages of approximately £90,000 per week for Cole and a two year deal for the injury prone Aurelio. The remaining signings were Paul Konchesky from Fulham for slightly more than £3m, Christian Poulsen from Juventus for £4.5m, Brad Jones from Middlesbrough for £2.3m and Raul Meireles from Porto for £10.7m. Leaving Liverpool was a raft of former Academy and Reserve Team players, the wantaway Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera and Javier Mascherano, but also Alberto Aquilani, after just one season of adaptation in England and the promising Argentine international Emiliano Insua, both on loan.

In the 2006 January transfer window, Daniel Agger moved to Liverpool from Brondby for what was a club record fee for a defender, at £5.8m. Agger made his Liverpool debut that February against Birmingham City, a match which also saw the ‘second coming’ of Robbie Fowler. However, the Dane was limited to just 4 appearances for his new club that season due to injury.

Despite this seasons ups and downs there has been almost one constant in the side, Maxi Rodríguez. Our number 17 has featured in 24 of our 31 premier league matches, joint in 5th place with Glen Johnson for season appearances. But many people question why Maxi continues to be selected and feature so heavily in the side. To...

Welcome to another Match Day on anfieldindex.com, finally we have some stats to produce after a two week lay off since the excellent result at the Stadium Of Light. Please find below the first half statistics from the Liverpool FC game, at the Hawthorns, Vs West Bromwich Albion. We haven't provided any context to the...

The third, and final, instalment of our nostalgic look at the midfield trio of the 2008/2009 season will concentrate on their performance in the attacking third of the pitch. We'd expect Xabi Alonso to be ahead in the race for most creative central midfielder out of the three. Xabi's passing, whether it be a simple pass or a long ball, was always of the highest quality. We'll look at how much of his passing helped in creating chances for Liverpool FC in the season 2008/2009 and how his midfield partners did in comparison.