Without Alexander-Arnold and Robertson as substitute, Liverpool s forward passing rate dropped by 400 yards per 90 minutes.

Hupu News, October 8th After experiencing a summer window that shocked the world and consecutive wins at the beginning of the season, Liverpool has gradually exposed many problems in recent times. The data media Squawka used data analysis to provide an in-depth analysis of Liverpool's current problems:

Arne Slott has not yet determined the best eleven

The obvious problem at present is that the Liverpool coach does not really know how to maximize the abilities of his players. Granted, he's in an enviable but tricky position. Adding two attackers worth £100m to the squad is a dream for many, but the reality is very different. Especially when you need to get them back into match fitness as quickly as possible while also finding a balance that allows a four-time Golden Boot striker to perform equally well.

However, Slott, who had a fixed style of play when he led Liverpool to the championship last year, now seems to have doubts about himself.

The Premier League season has just passed seven games, and he has already adjusted the system many times. At a time when Florian Wirtz needs as many games as possible to benefit him and the team's long-term development, Slaughter rested him. Whatever system Liverpool adopt this season, Mohamed Salah looks like he's being "sacrificially sacrificed".

The Reds signed Connor Bradley to a long-term improved contract in the summer and spent 30 million pounds to introduce Jeremy Frimpong to prepare for changes after Trent Alexander-Arnold left the team, but both spent time on the bench, while midfielder Szoboszlai was placed at full-back.

When Sloter would rather use an attacking midfielder at right-back, the message sent is clearly not positive.

The full-back problem triggered a team-wide crisis

However, Liverpool's struggles this season are closely related to the full-back situation. The Reds have tweaked their playmaking from the back in an attempt to fill the void left by Alexander-Arnold's departure. Not only that, but they also had to adapt to Milos Kolquez replacing Andrew Robertson at left-back.

Due to these two fullback changes, the Reds' forward passing yards per 90 minutes decreased by 400 yards. This is a significant drop. With the full-backs no longer pushing the ball forward as much as they once did, the load on other players' shoulders is even greater. However, in the new formation, Wirtz can move freely as an attacking midfielder and is not as fixed as last season. This also limits the ball release points when the team builds attacks from the backcourt.

For example, in the 14th minute of the game against Galatasaray, there were not many passing options in front of Konate. Eventually, he tried an overhead kick to Hugo Ekitic, but the pass was completely misplaced and the opponent easily regained possession of the ball. Last season, Szoboszlai was likely to be found in the large space between the striker and Salah. Konate could have fed him a through ball. The lack of an outlet may explain why the French centre-back's forward passing yards per 90 minutes have dropped by nearly 100 yards this season.

Knock-on effects on the midfield

As Kolkoz tends to pass the ball inside instead of looking for players to move forward from the side, this puts a greater burden on Hrafenberch. The No. 38 player had to leave the midfield area to provide a connecting point for the left back, which caused the Red Army's center to be wide open when transitioning from attack to defense. This is likely the reason why the Reds have only managed two clean sheets so far this season.

Kolquez is not a player who is good at passing the ball forward. No one can do what Alexander-Arnold does. The new formation limits Konate's abilities. Although Hrafenberch is talented, he is not good at organizing passes. He is better at advancing with the ball. At present, the only player in the team who can consistently send the ball into the offensive third is Virgil van Dijk.

This makes Liverpool's attack easy to predict. Turning possession advantage into ineffective, stagnant possession.

The problems Liverpool have had

The most worrying thing about all of this is that you could have seen it coming. Last season, when the No. 66 player (Arnold) who wanted to leave the team temporarily missed the game due to an ankle injury, their threat on the right side was greatly weakened. Salah, as he has been so far this season, was stuck on the right, picking up the ball in areas where he couldn't really threaten.

During Alexander-Arnold's absence, Liverpool was eliminated from the Champions League, lost the League Cup final, and lost to Fulham. They needed an 89th-minute goal to beat West Ham at Anfield and it was the right-back who came off the bench to score the winning goal against Leicester City. He started in the 5-1 win over Tottenham (a victory that sealed the title for the Reds), but started just once in Slott's last four games (two losses and two draws).

Many people attribute that period of ups and downs to the fact that Liverpool had already won the championship, but their momentum began to slow down at the moment Alexander-Arnold was injured.

In the last nine games of the Premier League last season, the right back started two games: a 5-1 win against Tottenham and a 1-3 loss against Chelsea. Liverpool won four of those games, three of them by one goal, while also throwing away leads against Arsenal and Brighton.

There are many similarities between that period of last season and the start of Slaughter's team this season. This also coincides with a period of struggle for Mohamed Salah. He ended the record-breaking 2024/25 season with just two goals in his final nine games. At the start of this season, he only scored two goals in seven league games.

The team's passing network diagram without Alexander-Arnold last season looks surprisingly similar to the team's passing network diagram this season.

This will always be a problem. A change at left-back compounded the problem by rendering that side unable to provide attacking push as well. If Slott can sort out the fullback situation, it could solve the back five's lack of ability to move forward.. Once this issue is resolved, Liverpool should be dominant and threatening again. This should also allow Isaac, Wirtz and Salah to find their firepower again. Only then can the Red Army bid farewell to the "scoring drought" and usher in a "harvest banquet".