Liverpool

Decisive December? – Crucial Month for Liverpool’s Season

Everyone always says that nothing is won in December, and they'd be absolutely right, but things can certainly be lost over the busy Christmas period. Between now and the FA Cup Third Round on the first weekend in the New Year, the Reds will play six matches - including the visit of West Ham...

Observations from Liverpool’s draw against West Ham United

A chance to open up a three-point lead over Manchester City, who sit in fourth place, was what was on offer as 18th place West Ham came to Anfield. A three-point lead in December doesn’t mean much but it would have given us some breathing space going into the festive fixtures knowing a date...

Liverpool 2 West Ham 2 – Player Ratings

Liverpool drop points on back to back weekends as defensive issues cost the home side the spoils! Here are my ratings for today's game. Loris Karius (6): Early punch away from a corner and then solid save from Antonio, but he's got to do better with Payet's free-kick, despite it curling away from him. Fantastic punch...

Liverpool fan reaction versus player reaction

Whilst I understand fans being upset at the nature of Liverpool's capitulation to Bournemouth last weekend (trust me, I was pissed off too), I feel the level of fume by some was somewhat disproportionate. Some people were losing their minds. Yes, it was bad, hence my use of the word capitulation and yes, fans...

Liverpool vs West Ham Preview: Can Reds Bounce Back Against Hapless Hammers?

Liverpool entertain West Ham United on Sunday in a bid to haul themselves back towards the top of the Premier League table, having lost ground on Chelsea last weekend. Having not beaten the Hammers in any of the four previous meetings between the two teams, Liverpool fans will have some understandable nerves heading into the...

Do Liverpool Really Need to Strengthen Their Defence in January?

After the capitulation at Bournemouth, questions marks once again hang over the Liverpool defence. Will that area of the team once again be the reason the Reds can't sustain a title challenge? Is it a personnel problem or just a systematic issue that needs time to be ironed out? Was it simply just one of...

Liverpool v West Ham Preview – Key Battles

After the implosion at Bournemouth, the Reds are back in Premier League action at Anfield. This time, the visitors are West Ham United. The Hammers themselves are in terrible form. They don't have a win in their last six games in all competitions. Since beating Chelsea 2-1 in the 4th round of the EFL Cup,...

Liverpool – A Squad in Crisis?

A mere few weeks ago Liverpool were well and truly flying, yet a flurry of injuries, including one to Phillipe Coutinho, suddenly dampened the mood around Anfield, and the recent humiliating defeat to Bournemouth only sought to worsen the atmosphere surrounding Liverpool FC. But with the January transfer window approaching, and with Mané soon...

Bournemouth vs Liverpool: Our Thoughts

On Sunday we saw Bournemouth produce one of the most brilliant comebacks in Premier league history, raging back from a deficit of 3-1 to claim a 4-3 win over Liverpool. It seemed as if Liverpool stopped caring after a certain point, assuming that they had all but won the game after the first half...

Where Data Meet Tactics: Ball Retention and Loss of Possession

These words were written to accompany the following graphic, and provide further context to the data. https://twitter.com/AIUnderPressure/status/804631753591816192 Working Out The first important piece of context regarding this graphic is that it’s not based on passes. It’s based on losses of possession due to a poor touch or an unsuccessful dribble. The numbers were calculated by dividing losses of...