Liverpool are losing second balls
Referencing: Everyone Is Going Long Against Liverpool, and It’s Working
David Segar for Opta Analyst:
Virgil van Dijk has won at least seven more aerial duels than any other player in the Premier League this season (46 of 59 – 78%), while his centre-back partner Ibrahima Konaté has won the third most (35 of 50 – 70%).
It’s second balls where Liverpool are often falling short, failing to mop up after their centre-backs have dealt with the initial danger.
It’s not that long balls always directly lead to chances for their opponents – no team have recorded more than 29 successful long balls against Liverpool in the Premier League this season. But it helps to briefly force them out of their shape, and it seems they are struggling to cope when that happens, especially with a new left-back in Milos Kerkez, and an unstable rotation of right-backs on the other side.
The key is the second balls. The distances between players is the culprit, in my opinion.