Liverpool conceded three goals nine days ago against Arsenal and two versus Burnley the weekend just gone – but bizarrely – we’ve actually faced the least shots of any side in the Premier League.
This is according to Opta, who posted the news on Twitter.
12 – Liverpool have allowed the opposition fewer shots (12) than any other PL team in 2016-17, yet have conceded a joint-high 5 goals. Soft.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 23, 2016
The immediate assumption here is that goalkeeper Simon Mignolet would be to blame – but if you look at the goals we’ve conceded – there’s not an awful lot the under-fire Belgian could have done.
So if the defenders are not letting the opposition get many shots on goal, and the keeper’s not to blame – have we just been extraordinarily unlucky defensively?
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Stats don’t tell the entire story of course, and anyone who watched the Burnley game especially can tell you that Liverpool were not unlucky but actually lacked bite and were far too vulnerable to a counter-attack.
But the fact we’re keeping the ball and restricting shots away from home is positive, right?
Obviously putting together a run of wins and keeping the opponents from scoring, rather than padding shots against stats – will silence doubters.
Here’s to getting behind the team and focussing on the positives rather than the negatives over the coming weeks.