Interesting piece in the Times today about how many goals we have scored from outside the box recently.
Why Liverpool score so many goals from outside the box
Long-range attempts have been in decline in the Premier League for years but this season Jürgen Klopp’s side have not been afraid to try their luck from distance
Is there a more satisfying sight in football? For lovers of the beautiful game a long-range strike, arced or arrowed into a billowing net, induces an unparalleled detonation of joy. In that regard, Liverpool’s thrilling 4-3 win against Fulham at Anfield on Sunday provided a feast for the senses, but, at the same time, almost felt like something from a bygone era.
In many ways, it was. Long-range shots have been in decline for years. Twenty years ago, about 45 per cent of shots in the Premier League came from outside the box. This season, that figure has dropped below 33 per cent. The trend can largely be attributed to the rise of expected goals (xG) — data which measures the quality of every goalscoring chance — which has resulted in more informed coaching and on-field decision-making.
Liverpool, before this season, were trending the same way. Between Jürgen Klopp’s appointment as manager in October 2015 and the end of last season, the share of Liverpool’s shots that came from outside the box had been in decline; the share of Liverpool’s goals that were scored from outside the box had dropped; and the average distance Liverpool shot from had fallen.
Shooting from range
Liverpool's Premier League shot locations last season compared with the current season
Data filtered from the 18-yard box and blue circles indicate goals
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This season, however, they have unexpectedly bucked that trend. Liverpool’s percentage of shots from outside the box has leapt from 28 to 39 per cent; their percentage of goals from outside the box has climbed from 11 to 17 per cent; and the average distance of their shots from 16 to 18 yards.
In total, Liverpool have taken 99 shots from outside the box this season, which is 18 more than the second-most adventurous side, Tottenham Hotspur. The five goals Liverpool have scored from outside the box (equalled only by Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa) already matches the number that Klopp’s Champions League-winning team — arguably the apex of his Anfield epoch — scored in the league during the whole of 2018-19.
For at least a decade, long-range shooting had almost become associated with poor attacking play. After all, it’s a pretty inefficient way of trying to score. Yet this season only the Premier League’s worst team, Sheffield United, are shooting from further out than Liverpool, who are taking aim from the same distance, on average, as 14th-placed Fulham.
So has Klopp suddenly allowed his players to let rip? And if so, why?
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When Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Núñez are all averaging more shots per 90 minutes from outside the box this season compared with last, the answer to that first question is pretty clear.
When assessing why, several reasons come to mind. What is the primary challenge the Premier League’s elite now face most weekends? More often that not, it is breaking down well-drilled, compact, low defensive blocks. Pulling and stretching their shape, searching and probing for openings.
Lining up shots from around the penalty area is another way of luring out defenders and blockers. Klopp, who famously ushered “heavy-metal football” into the game’s lexicon, has never been averse to a bit of organised chaos. Plus, shots can create counterpressing opportunities, too.
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Then there’s the profile of Liverpool’s midfield, which of course looks very different to last season. Alexander-Arnold, settling into his inverted full-back/midfield role, is taking up more central positions higher up the pitch — areas that allow him to take aim at goal more frequently.
Neither his majestic free kick on Sunday (awarded as a Bernd Leno own goal) nor his 88th-minute winner (scored from just inside the 18-yard line) were classified as goals from outside the box, but Alexander-Arnold’s right foot is a weapon that is being used differently this season.
Alexis Mac Allister, who joined from Brighton for £35 million in the summer, has taken only seven shots this season, but from an average distance of 29 yards. Perhaps, given that the Argentina midfielder is capable of scoring goals like that thunderous strike we saw against Fulham on Sunday, Klopp is willing to grant the World Cup winner the licence to try.
Undoubtedly, however, the main protagonist in this story is Dominik Szoboszlai, the £60 million signing from RB Leipzig. The 23-year-old has unleashed 24 of his 28 shots from outside the box this season — only Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has taken as many. Yet even if Szoboszlai (who scored ten goals in all competitions for the German club last season) has only been successful with one — a fine strike in Liverpool’s 3-0 win against Villa in September — there are by-products from Liverpool’s new-found willingness to shoot from further out.
Take, for example, Liverpool’s third goal in a 3-1 win against Bournemouth at Anfield in August. With the visiting team defending their penalty area, Díaz swept a pass out wide to Alexander-Arnold — stretching Bournemouth’s midfield block — who popped a first-time pass inside to a pocket of space for Szoboszlai to run on to. The Liverpool midfielder’s strike deflected off Philip Billing, wrong-footing the goalkeeper, Neto, who palmed the ball into the six-yard box. The advancing Jota was on hand to apply the simplest of finishes.
Now that Klopp has more players who can strike the ball from distance, it stands to reason that he would attempt to create space for them to do so.
Perhaps, though, something in Klopp’s vision for “Liverpool 2.0”, as he labelled this refreshed and reinvigorated young squad, is rooted in a much simpler desire: to throw off the shackles, channel an inner
Roy of the Rovers, and let fly.
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