Liverpool opened the scoring against Everton with a lightning counter-attack
The Liverpool of Jurgen Klopp have established a variety of trademark goals over the last seven years. It’s easy to picture Mohamed Salah cutting in from the right and curling a shot into the opposite side of the goal, for instance.
You can easily visualise Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson delivering pinpoint crosses to grateful forwards, or the likes of Virgil van Dijk heading the ball home from a perfect set piece situation. All teams have their established attacking methods and these are some which the Reds employ.
Probably the most exhilarating are the counter-attacks, particularly when they occur in the immediate aftermath of an opposition set play. Salah scored an official Premier League goal of the season nominee at West Ham in 2021 in this fashion, and while maybe not quite as spectacular, he set the Reds on the path to derby victory in similar style on Monday.
After Cody Gakpo had made it 2-0, Darwin Nunez had a couple of shots before Salah had Liverpool’s final four efforts of the game. Two of the Egyptian’s closing quartet were deemed by Opta to be counter-attacks (which are also known as ‘fast breaks’), as was his goal. To be classified as such, a chance has to be “created after the defensive [side] quickly turn defence into attack winning the ball in their own half. When at their best, Salah and Liverpool excel at doing exactly this.
With his three counter efforts against Everton, the 30-year-old notched up a minor record for the season, as no player has registered more in a single Premier League game in 2022/23 (per WhoScored). The encouraging thing on a team level was that they were each created by a different player, with Nunez, Stefan Bajcetic and Roberto Firmino each assisting Salah on the break.
The former Roma man also moved past Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe in the quartet of players atop the counter-attack shots chart for Europe’s big five leagues this term and now leads the way with nine. On a per 90 minutes played basis, this is now his best league campaign on this front with the Reds too. The number 11 stands a good chance of bettering his previous best of 12, which occurred last season.
The same applies to the team and the Jurgen Klopp era, even if Salah is clearly the ringmaster. Liverpool have had 18 counter-attack shots in 2022/23, the most in the Premier League, joint-fourth most across England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Maintain their rate and they’ll finish with 32, a total only one Premier League side in the last eight seasons bettered. Interestingly, it was Wolves in 2019/20, and the return from injury of one of their key players, Diogo Jota, was warmly received at Anfield on Monday. If the Portuguese forward can remain fit for the rest of the campaign, he should be able to help the Reds with further fast breaks.
If there is one disappointing aspect of all this counter-attacking it’s that it has only led to three goals. Their conversion rate of 16.7 per cent this term is shy of the long-term division-wide average of 20.9, and far below their own 28 from across the previous seven seasons.
The trio of fast break strikes have shown their value though. As well as breaking the derby deadlock, Salah scored the winner against Manchester City on the counter, with Firmino bagging the other such goal, to equalise in what ultimately became a 3-3 draw against Brighton.
It’s therefore worth noting that the counter-attack goals have all been scored at Anfield, when you would think they’d get more opportunities on the road when opposition sides have to be a bit more adventurous. After all, Liverpool scored in this fashion at Old Trafford and Goodison Park last season.
The Reds’ generally poor play away from home this season has no doubt contributed to them only having four fast break shots when not at Anfield. With Salah and Nunez in counter-attacking form and the likes of Firmino and Jota returning, hopefully Liverpool can pick up the pace in this sense. St James’ Park would be a great place to start.
