Liverpool may have famously beaten Besiktas 8-0 in a Champions League encounter in 2007, but I don’t know too much about their current incarnation, so I thought I’d take a look at what type of team they are, and how they have performed this season.
Since the 2011/12 season, Aston Villa and Liverpool have had a slightly peculiar relationship; the Reds have won three out of three at Villa Park, whilst the Villans have left Anfield with two wins and two draws from their four visits. Does the two teams’ form this season suggest that this run will continue with a Liverpool win on Saturday?
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Although the Reds won their last match, their previous league game saw two points dropped as Leicester City took a 2-2 draw home from Anfield. On Saturday at 12:45 they will aim to get back on track league-wise, at the Stadium of Light.
As I’m compiling stats throughout this season for use in the Anfield Index Analytics podcast, I figured it’d make sense to use them to write match previews too. With only three games played, it’d be wrong to read too much into the numbers, but equally I think they show that Aston Villa haven’t been playing that well, despite being unbeaten and currently sitting third in the fledgling 2014/15 Premier League.
Stoke away. Probably my least favourite fixture of the entire season.
Let’s be clear; Tony may now be working at Crystal Pulis, but the stats suggest little has changed at the Britannia. Stoke City have won the most aerial duels, committed the most fouls, and have the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League this season. The Reds are in for a battle, and no mistake.
After a match up between two of the Premier League’s best teams for chance quality at the Emirates Stadium last weekend, this week sees teams at opposite ends of the spectrum meet at Anfield, when Fulham visit Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
Although the Cottagers have been clinical in a couple of areas of the pitch, by and large their chance creation this season (both for and against) has been something of a horror show. The Reds will surely have enough in their armoury to win the match, and the below explains why.
I’ve taken a look at the stats for the season so far, to see if they can offer any clues as to how the match will pan out. They suggest Liverpool will likely face a challenge they’ve not coped well with so far under Brendan Rodgers.
After defeat to West Bromwich Albion, it doesn’t get any easier for Liverpool as they travel to face Zenit St Petersburg. I’ve taken a look at the stats from the Europa League Group Stage to see how Liverpool have fared in Europe so far this season.
After losing 2-1 away at Manchester United, and with their next two league matches after this weekend being trips to Arsenal and Manchester City, Liverpool could really do with earning three points on Saturday against Norwich City (weather permitting, that is).
The stats from the season so far suggest that they should get them.
The corresponding fixture from last season provided me with probably my favourite stat of the whole season; Liverpool hit the woodwork four times, whilst Villa only had four shots in total!
I think that stat sums up the Reds’ 2011/12 campaign pretty well; generally dominant, but not good enough in front of goal to win enough games. It has been a similar story in many ways for this campaign so far too, but can we expect this to change at Anfield on Saturday?
Liverpool safely negotiated the Europa League group stage with a 1-0 win away to Udinese (though Di Natale nearly ensured my 1-1 prediction was correct with the last kick of the game!), but having had to unexpectedly stay the night in Italy they haven’t had much time to prepare for a tricky fixture at Upton Park. From a statistical point of view, this is could be a very intriguing contest.
Tonight’s fixture provides an interesting match up between two teams with fairly similar records this season. Sadly for Liverpool, based on the statistics it would seem that Spurs will probably win a tight contest.
The Reds have the better defensive record in the league this season (with 4 cleans sheets and 16 goals against, compared to 1 clean sheet and 22 conceded), but Tottenham currently have the better offensive record (having scored 23 goals to Liverpool’s 17). However, breaking these numbers down further will show why I think the home side will triumph.
Ahead of the opening Merseyside derby of the season at Goodison Park on Sunday, the two sides find themselves approaching it in very different circumstances; Everton are being feted for their fine start to the season, whilst Liverpool finally won their first home league match of the season last weekend against Reading.
Yet things aren’t quite that clear-cut.
Bass Tuned To Red 