Why Liverpool's attacking woes run deeper than wasteful finishing
Arne Slot suggested that poor finishing was his side's biggest issue against PSG, but the numbers do not support the idea that poor luck is to blame for their struggles up top.
The difficulty of unpicking the reasons behind Liverpool’s struggles this season was underlined by a point made by Arne Slot in his post-match press conference following defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Lamenting his side’s failure to score a goal that could have ignited the tie, the Dutchman said: “Again, we were so underperforming in terms of xG and that is just an ongoing thing with us throughout the whole season.”
Slot had a point given that, on the night, the Reds generated 1.97xG and yet still could not breach Matvey Safonov’s goal even once.
He was also perhaps right to say this applied to the campaign as a whole because, in the Champions League this term, only Atalanta have a bigger xG underperformance than Liverpool’s 5.77 goals.
However, as with everything relating to this team this season, the problems run a little deeper than what, on the surface, seems like sheer bad luck.
And as much was evident even during this seemingly competent attacking performance against the reigning European champions.
Yes, Liverpool generated 1.97xG, but it is worth noting that they did so from 21 shots - an unimpressive xG per shot of 0.09.
That suggests PSG were, on the whole, doing a good job of ensuring that the vast majority of their opponents’ efforts on goal came from less dangerous positions.
And this has been something that plenty of the teams the Reds have faced this season have enjoyed success with.
In the Premier League this year, Liverpool are second only to Manchester United in terms of generating shots with 505.
Yet 12 sides have a better xG per shot than their 0.1, and they are sixth for carving out Opta-defined big chances.
Slot’s men have also scored 52 goals from 52.65xG in the league, which suggests that variance in finishing is not the reason for their issues, despite the manager’s claims.
Of course, that is not to say there is no mitigation for their struggles in attack this season, with the absence of one of the world’s best centre-forwards in Alexander Isak far from helpful.
The decline of Mohamed Salah after almost a decade of brilliance has also clearly taken a huge toll.
However, it is fair to ask - as many have - whether Slot should have been better able to make accommodations for the Egyptian’s diminished pace.
The head coach’s inability to consistently get the best out of Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo, among others, has also been a worrying storyline this season.
Liverpool at least plan to make things easier for that pair by bringing in fresh blood this summer, with sources confirming it is possible that two players capable of featuring out wide will be added.
