Worrying Liverpool stat that shows Reds ‘relegation’ form

Liverpool saw their 13-match unbeaten run end after Bournemouth snatched a dramatic 3-2 win in the Premier League on Saturday night.

The Reds were outdone by a late long throw, which saw Amine Adli scrape home a 96th-minute winner on a blustery night in the South Coast.

The loss saw Arne Slot’s men drop out of the Champions League places following wins for Manchester United and Chelsea at the weekend.

The Reds had looked to have steadied the ship somewhat since a shock 4-1 defeat to PSV in December saw the Dutchman’s position at Anfield come under increasing scrutiny.

Despite winning their first five games this season, Liverpool’s form has nosedived since September.

Whilst Slot has credit in the bank after steering Liverpool to the Premier League title in his first season, one stat shows just why patience may be wearing thin on Merseyside.

Liverpool’s concerning Premier League form

After dispatching neighbours Everton at Anfield on September 20th, Liverpool moved five points clear of Arsenal at the Premier League summit.

It completed an impressive start to the season, with three late winners against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Burnley helping the Reds enjoy a 100% start to the Premier League.

However, despite demonstrating the mentality of title winners, performances did not match the result, and the bubble soon burst.

Defeat to Crystal Palace the following weekend started a run of five successive defeats – including a first home loss to Manchester United in nearly a decade. And things haven’t got better since, with Liverpool tasting victory in the league just five times since the derby.

Premier League table since matchday five

In fact, it’s the kind of form that would see the Reds not far off a relegation fight.

Looking at the Premier League table since the end of match week five, Liverpool sit 12th in the table.

In that timeframe, Arne Slot’s men have lost 19 points to leaders Arsenal as they look set to give up their Premier League crown.
The bigger concern may be below them, however, with West Ham only four points worse off in 18th.

Position	Team	M	W	D	L	G	GA	PTS	xPTS
1	Aston Villa	18	14	1	3	34	20	43	24.74
2	Arsenal	18	12	4	2	32	15	40	40.43
3	Manchester City	18	12	3	3	38	16	39	34.94
4	Manchester United	18	8	7	3	35	26	31	30.62
5	Chelsea	18	8	5	5	29	20	29	27.1
6	Brentford	18	9	2	7	29	22	29	31.09
7	Newcastle United	18	8	3	7	29	26	27	29.87
8	Fulham	18	8	2	8	26	27	26	18.2
9	Brighton	18	6	7	5	27	23	25	24.27
10	Everton	17	7	4	6	18	20	25	19.7
11	Sunderland	18	6	7	5	18	22	25	16.9
12	Liverpool	18	5	6	7	24	27	21	30.02
13	Bournemouth	18	4	8	6	32	38	20	27.41
14	Nottingham Forest	18	6	2	10	18	25	20	19.04
15	Crystal Palace	18	5	4	9	18	26	19	23.49
16	Leeds	17	4	6	7	26	30	18	27.53
17	Tottenham	18	4	6	8	23	28	18	24.31
18	West Ham	18	4	5	9	22	32	17	19.15
19	Burnley	18	2	5	11	20	36	11	10.63
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	18	1	5	12	12	31	8	18.26

Premier League table since matchday five. (Source: Understat)

Liverpool’s XPts underperformance

It’s the kind of drop off which has seen the Reds rumoured to be in touch with former Liverpool man Xabi Alonso, who was sacked by Real Madrid earlier this year.

One positive for Arne Slot is that, despite the results on paper, their underlying numbers suggest their performances have warranted more points than they have earned in the last 18 Premier League matches.

The XPts table in that timeframe has the Reds in fifth place – still underwhelming considering Liverpool have faced promoted side five times in that period – but may point to a side that has yet to unlock their potential.

That’s unsurprising given the process of embedding five new signings whilst saying goodbye to many more who helped Liverpool secure the title last season.

One man who looks to be finding his feet is Florian Wirtz. The £115 million summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen has six goal contributions in his last nine games in all competitions.

Despite the troubling form, perhaps the Reds still need time to gel. The problem for Arne Slot is that he may not get that time if Liverpool’s form continues.

With Alonso having worked with Wirtz at Leverkusen, he may be a popular choice to get more out of this Liverpool side as the season starts drifting away from the Reds.