According to journalist Josh Williams, a stats expert, Liverpool’s aerial win percentage is the worst in the Premier League so far this season.
This can be impacted by loads of things, but Liverpool are currently posting the worst aerial win % in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/czOFSsGSZP
— Josh Williams (@DistanceCovered) November 2, 2020
We have conceded 15 times from 26 shots faced, which according to the graph you’ll see below from Ben Mayhew, makes us the third least effective defensive side, with only Manchester City and Brighton behind us.
Liverpool have let in more goals than any other side, although this is slightly skewed by the ludicrous 7-2 v Aston Villa.
As promised, here are the first scatter graphics of the season for the Premier League.https://t.co/KmSDhCUxOG pic.twitter.com/T8EU5c2Ah0
— Ben Mayhew (@experimental361) November 2, 2020
Joel Matip is the centre-back with the best aerial success rate in the country over the past two years, however, including Virgil van Dijk.
The giant Cameroonian is imperious when balls are delivered high into the box – especially from set-pieces – which is going to be a massive help.
He’s back in full training and we really, really hope he can stay fit for a run of games in the Premier League to shore us up at the back alongside Joe Gomez, who while a great player, is not strong aerially.
In Mayhew’s graphs, though, you can also see that Liverpool have been the best side in the country this term. We’ve made the most chances and have the highest XG versus XG-against – a better way of telling who’s playing well early on than points on the board.
It’s actually crazily impressive to see where we are despite the injuries we’ve had to date.