Opta Stats

Liverpool’s 2024-25 Fixture List: Favourable Start, Tough Finish

Liverpool's 2024-25 Premier League Fixture List Revealed New Season Kick-Off The 2024-25 Premier League fixture list is out, and Liverpool will begin their campaign under new manager Arne Slot with an away game against newly promoted Ipswich Town. This match is scheduled for Saturday, August 17th, with a confirmed 12:30 PM lunchtime kickoff. The Reds will...

Opinion: Liverpool’s Goal Drought Could Cost Title

Liverpool's Scoring Woes: A Statistical Insight into Their Title Challenge As Liverpool continues its quest for the Premier League title, a concerning trend in front of goal has emerged, potentially derailing their championship ambitions. The Echo has recently highlighted the troubling statistics that have seen the Reds falter at critical moments. A Close Look at Liverpool's...

Andrew Beasley: Klopp’s Liverpool Transformation Fueled by Intense Pressing

Klopp's Counter-Pressing Philosophy: Deja Vu Jürgen Klopp once said that “no playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation,” and his team proved the point in their 5-2 victory over Norwich City in the FA Cup on Sunday. What will have pleased the (sadly soon to be ex-) Liverpool manager...

Andrew Beasley: ‘Non-sensical’ Nunez vs Carroll Comparison

The Enigma of Football Chants: From Humor to Inspiration Football chants can be the funniest, catchiest songs you’ll ever hear. They can lodge themselves in your brain and have you moving more than most pop songs. Granted, some take inspiration from chart hits – Luis Suárez just couldn’t get enough – or maybe children’s songs...

Andrew Beasley: Liverpool’s Vital Edge Over Arsenal

Liverpool's Performance at Arsenal: Beyond Shearer's Words Without wanting to refashion this column into some kind of weekly Alan Shearer Show, the former Newcastle striker and pundit recently made some strange comments relating to a Liverpool match for the second week running. Rather than airing his opinion regarding the award of penalty on social media, as...

Liverpool’s Path Through To Success

Liverpool's Resilience Against Man City Would you have taken a point ahead of kick-off against Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime? If you wouldn’t have at 12:30, you almost certainly would have just after 2pm, with the Reds a goal down and time rapidly running out. It was always going to be difficult for Liverpool to create...

Liverpool’s Battle at the Etihad: Analysing the Key Stats

Statistical Analysis by Anfield Index In a game where control is paramount, Manchester City demonstrated a masterclass in possession against Liverpool, with data from Futmob and Opta revealing a dominant 60% control of the ball. This significant share of possession is a hallmark of City's playstyle, reflecting their philosophy of dictating the game's pace and...

Liverpool Answer Jürgen Klopp’s Earliest Request

The Art of the Soundbite Bill Shankly was the master of the soundbite, the one-liner, the quip. Imagine how he’d be on Twitter in 2023, with Everton struggling every year. Even their own fans want to draw the curtains when they’re playing these days. Jürgen Klopp also has a way with words, which is all the...

Shaky Simon Mignolet Reverts To Nervous Performances

“Simon, are you sometimes over-thinking stuff?” Those were the words uttered by Mrs Mignolet last season as she attempted to resolve her then-fiancé’s form. Sure enough, after his wife’s inspirational chat, Mr Mignolet’s displays improved. The once erratic goalkeeper went back to basics and looked a different player in the second half of the season. But...

Simon Mignolet – Is he still good enough? A comparison to rivals

Earlier in the season, following Liverpool's 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, I wrote an article looking at Simon Mignolet's first season up to that point as the Reds' first choice goalkeeper following his summer move from Sunderland. At the time he had just made himself public enemy number one to a group of fans (oh...