There is a slight myth that Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp are purely an all-action counter-attacking side…
The truth is, that while we’re lethal on the break, we dominate matches and keep the ball throughout, as these statistics prove.
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Why Kornmayer made Klopp ‘crease with laughter’ as scared Liverpool players looked on…
Squawka’s possession stats throughout the whole of Europe makes for interesting reading.
We keep the sixth most possession of any side with an average of 58%, only behind Bayern, Barca, PSG, City and Dortmund. We’re ahead of Spurs (55%), Real Madrid (54%) and Arsenal (54%).
In terms of successful passes played, we’re on 8,023, the fourth most in Europe – and for this metric – we’re actually ahead of Barcelona (7,826).
Klopp’s mantra is to win the ball high up the field as it catches the opposition off guard and we can attack against less defenders. But even better than winning the ball back is keeping it in the first place!
With Jordan Henderson at the base of midfield, we have a metronome that controls games. While we score goals at pace, a lot of our play is probing and experimental, using the fullbacks high up and playing through the lines until one of the attackers makes a run and pulls a defender out of position.
Against ‘Boro on Wednesday, we saw an example of how we can have all the ball, but also burst into life at certain moments and catch the opponents cold.