Liverpool’s fight for a Premier League return to the top four is being held back by poor set-piece work, according to Arne Slot, who warned that the club "have no chance" of finishing in the top four or even top five if the current problems continue at both ends.
Slot’s concerns come despite an improvement in results that has lifted Liverpool to fifth place before the festive home meeting with bottom side Wolves on Saturday, with Chelsea occupying fourth position only due to a better goal difference, keeping the Champions League race tight.
Slot believes Liverpool have overlooked a crucial factor in modern football, particularly with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all already into double figures for set-piece goals this season, while Liverpool struggle
to match those returns and instead depend mainly on creativity from open play to stay competitive near the top.
From attacking dead-ball situations, Liverpool have only three league goals, excluding penalties, leaving them level with Brentford and ahead of only Wolves, who have managed a single set-piece goal, underlining how rarely Liverpool turn corners and free-kicks into direct scoring chances compared with their main rivals.
Defensively, the picture is just as troubling for Liverpool, who have allowed 11 Premier League goals from set-pieces, a figure that stands as the joint-second worst in the division, with only Bournemouth, also on 11 in the data provided, conceding more from structured dead-ball situations.
Underlying metrics tell a similar story, as Liverpool sit fourth from bottom in the Premier League for total shots from set-pieces with 54 and rank second from last for expected goals from those situations at 4.13 xG, while 44% of all goals conceded this season have arrived from dead-ball deliveries.
Slot reflected on how standards have slipped from last season, saying: "I know the importance of it, it gets more and more [important], and that's why we are so annoyed by our current record," before adding, "It's a big frustration we are where we are this season because when we were halfway through last season, we had not conceded one set-piece goal. "
Slot underlined how the current record damages Liverpool’s chances, saying: "It's impossible to be top four, or top five, with our set-piece balance, let alone winning the league. We are the only team at the top end of the table that has a negative set-piece balance. And not only are we negative, we are on minus-eight and still on equal points with fourth. "
Slot also pointed to Liverpool’s strengths in open play to explain their league position, stating: "But if we are minus-eight. you look at that, you could say how special it is that we have as many points as we have. We all know why, because in open-play chances created, we are number one in the league. "
The context around Slot’s comments is Liverpool’s difficult Premier League title defence, with the Opta supercomputer currently giving them only a 1% chance of retaining the championship in 2025-26, even though recent form has at least brought them back towards the leading pack.
Liverpool now prepare for a busy festive schedule that starts with Wolves and is followed by a home game against Leeds United on New Year's Day, and history offers some encouragement, as the Reds have taken 17 wins from their last 20 league fixtures played between Christmas and New Year, drawing two and losing just one, including five straight victories in that period.
