- Liverpool rank second-last in the Premier League in a physical metric
- The stat has gone viral among supporters are a symbol of Arne Slot’s passive setup
- It points to a fundamental shift needed ahead of next season
There is a stat circulating this week that perfectly captures why this Liverpool season has felt so hollow. It will not surprise you, but seeing it in black and white still stings.
When the Premier League table is ranked by this particular metric, the Reds are second-last – that’s relegation worthy.
Aired by Sky Sports after Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat against Brighton Hove Albion on Tuesday, 21 April, the stat in question is how often each side has outrun their opponents across the season.
Arsenal top the charts, having covered more ground than their opponents in 32 of their 33 league games, but Arne Slot’s side are at the other end, sitting 19th.
Sitting just above Chelsea, the Anfield outfit have become one of the most passive sides in the entire division.
The team have been outrun in 29 of their 33 league games so far this season.
The Jurgen Klopp shadow looms large
This is not just a fitness problem; it’s an identity problem.
Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool suffocated opponents. The press was relentless, the transitions ferocious, the physical intensity something every rival had to specifically prepare for.
It won the club the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League and every other major trophy available, and it also made Anfield a fortress.
That Liverpool is gone. It is almost as if the gergenpress is a thing of the past.
Fan account Dominic Trout put it plainly on X: “This stat is such a huge indictment of Slot’s setup. The polar opposite of what made us successful.”
Slot’s more possession-based structured approach has its merits on paper, but the data suggests the six-time European champions have not just shifted style – they have shed the very thing that made them dangerous.
Opposition sides have been allowed to breathe, to play through the press, to settle into games – even at Anfield – in a way that would have been unthinkable two years ago.
Slot must find Liverpool edge again
Running more than your opponents is not a guarantee of success. In fact, 15th-placed Leeds United are second on this list, just behind Arsenal.
However, for Arne Slot, it has stood as a weakness for most of the season, with the problem visible every single week.
The lack of pressing intensity, the passive shape, especially out of possession, and the inability to impose themselves on games – all are a departure from Klopp’s time.
Last weekend’s 2-1 derby win against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium showed that this squad still has character, but character without intensity is not a winning formula across a full season.
Despite shouts for Slot to be sacked, he continues to have the Fenway Sports Group’s backing, and he has a good squad, even with all its shortcomings.
The onus is now on him to find a way to inject the kind of relentless energy that made Liverpool feared, because right now, they are the second-most comfortable side in the Premier League to play against.
This is not a reputation Anfield can afford to keep.
