In case you hadn’t noticed, Liverpool haven’t quite been at their best on home soil recently. In fact, we’re historically bad, as these three key stats suggest.
There’s an awful lot to fix for the Reds right now, and it isn’t a single issue such as ‘tactics’, ‘injuries’ or ‘making subs’.
All three undoubtedly contribute, as does the mentality, confidence and mindset of players right now, but all are compounding the others to make this an abominable time to be a Reds supporter.
Wednesday offers another chance to get back on track, largely because the game – although our ‘home’ leg – is being played at the Puskas Arena, but also maybe because it’s a different competition where Liverpool start from a position of strength after a 2-0 first-leg win.
After that it will be back to Premier League action on the road, which is just as well – these numbers from the Mail lay out just how bad the situation has been at Anfield.
Lack of goals
Can’t buy a goal! Sadio Mane hit the bar against Fulham, which sounds like it was a decent effort which could have gone in, but really it was a half-chance at best which he did brilliantly to guide anywhere near to the goal.
Largely speaking, we create nothing at the moment and most efforts are tame, wild or off-target.
Other than penalties, it’s now 115 shots taken at Anfield in the Premier League without scoring a goal, which is the longest run by any top-flight club since Opta started recording data.
It’s not just in the Premier League that this is measured as a bad run in front of goal, either, but Europe-wide: from the 98 clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, only Liverpool and Dijon are yet to score at home in 2021 from open play.
Relegation run
Six home defeats on the trot is, we all now know, the worst run in Liverpool’s history.
It’s also the highest total home defeats we’ve suffered in a season in almost 70 years, and this campaign isn’t finished yet.
In 53/54 we finished bottom of the table after six home defeats that season, while if we lose another game at Anfield it’ll be the worst home record since 37/38, when we also lost seven.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield Town two years ago were the last top-flight side to lose six at home on the bounce – they finished bottom, you may remember, having managed just 16 points all season.
We’ve at least beaten that tally already! But the Terriers actually went on to lose seven straight home games, so there’s something to aim for: avoid defeat to Aston Villa and we avoid matching one of the league’s historic worst.
Points won (or not)
The numbers which really matter most: how many points a club earns.
And in that regard, Liverpool are once again without peer…but at the completely opposite end of the spectrum to if we had measured this a year go.
Jurgen Klopp‘s side are bottom of the lot in 2021: 92nd out of all 92 professional English clubs with just one point earned at home.
We’re in good company with not having won a home game yet this calendar year, alongside Rochdale, Walsall and Charlton. But each of those have taken at least two points.
The Reds’ solitary home success-of-sorts was a 0-0 draw with Man united in mid-January.
And given our next home league game doesn’t come until 10 April, it will be at least four months into the year before we earn our first home league win of 2021, and – should we pick up the three points against Villa – a massive 115 days between league victories at Anfield.
Can’t wait until those fans are back – at least that’s one issue that will hopefully be solved before the end of the season!
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