Anfield Index

"We've got the best midfield in the world!" is what reverberated in Anfield and mainly on the Kop in the heights of Rafael Benitez's reign at Anfield. The song mentioned Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascheranoooooooooo! We loved that song, we loved that midfield quartet. Since then we've undergone a total transformation in midfield, no longer does it have the passing range of Alonso or the terrier like tackling of Mascherano or Sissoko.

Since Alonso's big money departure to join Spanish giants Real Madrid, we have never quite come to terms with his loss. Many actually believe this has caused our decline over the last few seasons.

This sunday, Liverpool go head to head to head with Steve Bruce (the manager) for the 16th time in the Premier League and the 20th time overall. Over the years it has been notoriously difficult for the reds to take all 3 points away from these games, in fact, it has only ever happened...

It's close to two weeks since the victory against Manchester United and we've, once again, done a full circle of emotion. Ecstasy of beating our rivals to dejection of crashing out of Europa. However we still think there are ten reasons to be positive:

Liverpool FC Vs SC Braga Our basic stats at half time are attached below for all to view. We'll add more context later but as we're providing these statistics on the go we cannot add any at the moment! Basic Stats from Braga (H) in Europa League   Player Stats

SamSports looks at Lucas Leiva's performances earlier this season, during the Roy Hodgson era. How has he done? Why should his performances be classed as impressive? Where can he improve? All those questions answered in this article.

A statistical look at Steven Gerrard's ups and downs over the last three Premier League seasons.

Last updated: 5th April 2011 Another update to this article for you all as it's received such good feedback. A week makes a massive difference in football and as you can see, from the stats below. Darren Bent has been the main beneficiary thanks to his two goals, against the bitter blues of Merseyside, this weekend. He further improved his stats because the two goals were his only shots in the game therefore improving his accuracy as well as minutes per goal ratio.

Part One of a detailed look at the depth of young talent at Liverpool FC, initially looking at Goalkeepers & Defenders.

The Under-18’s prepared for their FA Youth Cup showdown with Manchester United in the best possible way, coming back from a goal down to hit Blackburn for five.

After weeks of development the first version of the Stats Centre is now live! Please view the stats by clicking the "Stats" menu item on the top right hand side of the screen. We hope this section of the site provides you with what you're looking for

All of the stats from last night's game are attached below. The passing breakdown displays forward, backward, left and right passes. We have also included the passing zones for the whole team and then individual players also. We are running short on time at the moment so will display the stats for you but add some context later in the day.

Liverpool went down to a 1-0 loss in Portugal earlier this evening. a penalty conceded by Soto Kyrgiakos decided the game in the first half. A lacklustre performance really and it's quite surprising that our pass total was quite high once again. We made around 582 passes and it seems to me that we always seem to pass the ball when we are losing and chasing the game (I guess it's obvious really). I've displayed the basic match stats below for your viewing pleasure. Please log in and comment on the stats.

SC Braga Vs Liverpool FC - 1st Half Stats Possession: Liverpool: 53.1% Pass Completion: 77% Passing Stats Total Passes: 281 Open Play: 259 Crosses: 7 Throw Ins: 12 Goal kicks: 3 Total Accurate Passes: Accurate Passes: 217 Open Play: 206 Crosses: 1 Throw Ins: 8 Goal kicks: 2 Total Pass Zones Defensive Half Passes: 158 Attacking Half Passes: 108 Total Accurate Passes in Zones Defensive Half Passes: 141 Defensive Half Completion %: 89.2% Attacking Half Passes:...

Make sure you come back later this evening for stats on our Europa League match Braga Vs Liverpool in Portugal. We'll be doing a report available for all with basic stats and a report available for subscribers only with more detailed stats on the player performances. Please joins later in the evening (won't be immediately...

Jamie Carragher is a player who needs no introduction. In his lengthy career there is only one trophy that has eluded him; he has racked up over 650 appearances for the club often playing more than 50 games a season. He has made 137 European appearances for Liverpool (as of 24/02/2011) which is a British record. Never one to shy away from a challenge or quietly go about his business, in fact there is barely a match that goes by when you can’t hear him barking out orders to his team mates even when playing to an audience of tens of thousands, he has come in for criticism, been labelled not good enough an overlooked for England but has still remained a first choice defender for Liverpool for over a decade. But now in his 33rd year as he approaches the final stages of his 15th campaign he is finding himself under the microscope more and more often. So what do the stats actually say about Jamie? Is he overrated or underrated, wrongly or rightly overlooked?

A brief introduction: I’m Conor Dowley, and while I’m a Yank through and through, I’m also a huge Liverpool supporter. My best friend grew up just blocks from Anfield, so when I started getting more and more in to the sport and it came time to choose a team to support (five years or so ago), Liverpool was the natural choice. It helped that I loved watching them play; Steven Gerrard was then and is still now one of my favorite individual players to watch.

We're pleased to announce that anfieldindex.com has agreed a deal with Opta Sports Data to provide detailed match statistics on Liverpool Football Club's Europa League adventure. We understand that there is a risk as it is now the knock out stages however we wanted to prove our passion and commitment to members of anfieldindex.com that we're continually looking to improve and ensure you get your money's worth.

The performance by Luis Suarez yesterday is summed up by the fact that his team-mate scored a hat-trick and he still walked off the pitch as the man-of-the-match by a comfortable margin.

Following on from our previous post with regards to match stats we thought we'd post some in depth breakdown on the passes made by each of the players that made the majority of the match. The passes are broken down in to forward, backward, left and right passes. Hopefully you'll be able to find some sort of correlation. However the obvious things you may notice are things like defenders passing a higher proportion forward and strikers laying off passes backwards a lot more.

Liverpool Vs Man United - Where the Game was Won   Payback is a b*tch and Manchester United's slaughter at Anfield yesterday was just that - Payback. After suffering two defeats at their hands this season the win was very welcome, as I'm sure every Liverpool fan didn't want to even contemplate a third loss, in...

Liverpool Vs Man United Stats   A fantastic win for Liverpool today with Dirk Kuyt, Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva really impressing. Whilst watching we noticed that the movement of the Liverpool players was excellent and a lot of passes were breaking down because it was all excellent one touch football. This is probably...

Anfield Index is now live! The Stats Centre is now available and to celebrate this we've got a special offer for This Month Only so that you could save 22.2% for the life of your subscription and if you choose the Writer option (£3.50) and sign up before the 1st April you will be automatically...

It’s always hard to rate keepers. You can’t really rate based on goals against averages or clean sheets, as they are not just decided by goalkeepers, but on how good defences are and how defensive coaches can be. Some keepers can look good...

A statistical analysis of Kuyt’s contribution to the Liverpool team in the first half of the 2010/11 Premier League season. Dirk Kuyt played 16 games for Liverpool in the worst start to a season in living memory. This article will look in detail at how he performed during those 16 games in relation to the...

It’s been all change at left back for several seasons now. Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio and Paul Konchesky have all tried to fill the slot over the last two seasons, with fairly mixed results. Aurelio is a very good consistent performer, but cannot seem to stay fit. Paul Konchesky was seen by Roy Hodgson...

Daniel Agger struggled more than most in adapting to the tactics of Roy Hodgson. Daniel Agger made no secret of the fact that he was uncomfortable with the notion of hoofing the ball up the pitch at every opportunity, explaining his issues to a Danish TV station, "The manager has a philosophy that we're...

Everyone knows Steven Gerrard. Regardless of what corner of the world you are in, he is up there with the World-Class players of today. In terms of whoever he plays for, be it England or Liverpool, there are always debating points about him. First one is the age old ‘Golden Generation’ question of Can...

I think it’s fair to say that Raul Meireles is the only positive that can be taken from Roy Hodgson’s disastrous tenure as Liverpool manager.  It’s taken Raul Meireles half a season and a manager who immediately recognised his best position to get him firing on all cylinders, but did we really need him?  Should...

During the transfer window there were rumours flying about that Joe Cole would be heading out of Anfield on loan to Spurs.  Those rumours may have been wide of the mark but you can see why there might have been more than a little bit of truth in them, given that Harry Redknapp tried...