Why Liverpool’s defensive credentials are set to be seriously tested after Alisson injury

Despite the hosts surging into an almighty lead, Norwich registered more shots at Anfield than any team managed last season

Mark Critchley
Monday 12 August 2019 07:09 BST
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Jurgen Klopp discusses Alisson injury following Liverpool's opening-day win against Norwich

A curious statistic emerged from the opening game of the Premier League season on Friday night. Newly-promoted Norwich City, thrashed 4-1 with all four of Liverpool’s goals scored by half time, registered more shots at Anfield than any team managed there during the whole of last season.

Their total of 12 attempts was, for example, twice the number managed by Manchester City last October. Was it simply a case of Liverpool easing off after moving four goals ahead? Not quite. Seven of Norwich’s shots came before the 35th minute, and all but one before they were three goals down.

Daniel Farke’s players had particular joy against the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence, which happens to be slightly unsettled at the moment. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are all jockeying for two positions there. Alexander-Arnold and Gomez were the starting pair on Friday but neither looked comfortable on the back foot.

Jurgen Klopp was not too concerned. He had “nothing bad to say about the game” except on one subject: Alisson Becker’s calf injury. The Liverpool goalkeeper – as transformative an addition last summer as Virgil van Dijk a few months earlier – could be sidelined for up to six weeks. Adrian will replace him. Andy Lonergan may be brought in as backup, too.

But should Klopp be slightly more worried about an injury to Alisson, given that his side seemed more porous than usual on Friday? Liverpool’s defensive credentials were once a subject of constant debate. They have gone virtually unquestioned since Van Dijk’s arrival, but are they about to be seriously tested?

It is easily forgotten how last season’s near-miss at a first Premier League title in 29 years was powered largely by the back-line. Liverpool had conceded just seven goals by the halfway point of the campaign. At that stage, Chelsea’s 15-goal record for the fewest conceded in a Premier League season, held since 2004-05, was in sight.

Liverpool ultimately conceded 22. That was the fewest in the league – one fewer than City – but still a sharp increase from the first half of the season, and still six or seven fewer than underlying numbers suggested. Across the 38-game season, the defence over-performed by a margin that might not be repeatable during the forthcoming campaign.

It would be wrong to read anything into pre-season, when there was only the one solitary clean sheet against Tranmere Rovers, but the ease with which City broke behind Klopp’s high line during the Community Shield was more concerning. Then came Friday, when better finishing on Norwich’s part early doors would have changed the complexion of the evening.

You can stop yelling at the screen now, by the way. Yes, we know it was just one game. Making projections and predictions this early is quite frankly a stupid thing to do, as this article may soon prove. Liverpool are more likely to repeat last year’s outstanding defensive record than regress to the point where the defence becomes any kind of serious problem.

Alisson is treated for injury during the match against Norwich

But as Klopp and his players know better than anyone, you do not need serious problems to lose a title race to a team like City. You might only falter slightly, but you can still fail to meet the required standard. That is the near-impossible level that Pep Guardiola’s side have set with their consecutive seasons of winning 98 points or more.

It is likely that Liverpool will need to match if not better last year in order to challenge City again. For that reason alone, they will hope that any loose defending is just a symptom of the early season and not something a side with designs on the Premier League title cannot overcome.

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