Liverpool Hunting for Superior Rhythm Despite Premier League Lead.

Maintain calm. That proved to be the serene guidance offered by Liverpool's captain and the young midfielder earlier this week as the team processed successive defeats for the second time under the Dutch manager.

The manager was calm and positive in his latest address, sprinkling several voluntary comments that the squad he was defending from infrequent criticism are top of the English top division. Again. Yet beneath the soothing statements and favorable league table, there are undeniable problems with the club's performance that, as stated by Slot himself, run deeper than the opening ten fixtures of the campaign.

We had been delighted securing the league,” remarked the Liverpool boss. “However we kept open our focus for the latter half of the season to the frequency with which we required a dead-ball situation [to win].”

The reigning English champions have not having trouble to create chances from open play or to turn superior ball control into decisive triumphs since August, their head coach maintained. Liverpool were experiencing challenges to do both from the midpoint of the previous campaign, once rivals changed their game plans to restrict the Reds, and are yet to find answers.

Numerical Evidence

Figures corroborate his claims. Over the opening 19 league games of his first campaign, the side notched forty-seven strikes with 40 (the vast majority) originating from live action. In the concluding nineteen matches, the Reds managed thirty-nine goals, of which twenty-seven (69.2%) were from general play. The reduction has been addressed this term, over a small sample size, with ten of their twelve Premier League goals originating from live action (a high percentage).

• First 19 games: 85.1% of goals from open play
• Last nineteen matches: 69.2% of goals from open play
• Present campaign: 83.3% of goals from open play

Yet Liverpool's showings in the current campaign, particularly the defeats at Crystal Palace and in Turkey in the space of less than a week, cannot be attributed to a decline in corner and free-kick quality alone. Moreover, their seven-game winning streak before visiting their London rivals was regularly paired with the qualification that Liverpool scored decisive goals in the closing stages and/or regardless of an uneven display.

Squad Problems

Florian Wirtz is still adjusting to the ferocity of the English football and is a expensive signing that the coach is continuing to integrate to maximum effect. Their recent defensive signings, Jeremie Frimpong and his defensive partner, were publicly backed by their head coach before the Galatasaray defeat but are still not at the levels of the players they replaced.

Alexander Isak is short of full sharpness following the summer not playing at Newcastle, and Ibrahima Konaté's form has abandoned him. The problems goes on. Solely Hugo Ekitiké, Van Dijk, the Brazilian shot-stopper, who will be absent for Saturday's trip to the Blues with a thigh issue, the playmaker and the engine-room player have performed at a good level in the current campaign.

Vital Unavailable player

Liverpool urgently require Alexis Mac Allister to restore optimal condition and his influence over their rhythm, control and forward impetus. The Argentina international was excluded of the last two matches of last season to start his rehabilitation from a nagging physical problem and be ready fit for the summer preparations. That was, that was the aim. His recovery process proved more protracted than expected, the preparation period was frequently interrupted as a consequence, and a crucial part in Slot's setup has not completed 90 minutes for his team since the 1-0 win at the King Power Stadium on April 20.

“It's said he is behind,” he commented. “Back home we say he is out of sync.” The team will be a different proposition when he is directing the center of the park alongside his Dutch teammate anew.

Next Steps

The head coach has highlighted the benefits of flexibility in his revamped team, with the new signings the German, Ekitiké, Isak and Frimpong able to perform in a multiple roles, but a side undergoing change could do with greater stability in team picks to hasten the integration.

It's not that we do things differently but I notice opponents adopting a lot of things unlike before in matches with us,” he stated. “Jürgen Klopp left me a lot of benefits but one benefit I inherited was ending up third the prior campaign and fifth the season before that.”

The Reds possess enough top-tier stars to address their patchy displays, as Curtis Jones commented this week, but Slot acknowledges the answer is more complex than relying on the playmaker and Isak to find their form. Chelsea's ground might prove a good place to start, though.

It's a mix,” the boss said. “In what way can we get the ball to our fliers? Are we reaching them often enough and in threatening areas {like we did|as we managed|similar