Liverpool’s New Years Day draw was the first 0-0 in Arne Slot’s tenure in charge of the Reds, and while “not a nice thing to hear,” Slot was careful to emphasize a good thing his team accomplished:
“I think
it is clear and obvious we hardly conceded chances anymore at this moment in time against the opponents we had in the last seven or eight games.”
This control in defense was evident in the ground as well, with Leeds given almost no chances during the full outing — a massive improvement on the match at Elland Road, which saw the Reds gift Leeds a way back into the match.
Though the Reds did generate a decent amount of xG, the eye test makes the lack of decisiveness in attack impossible to ignore. Liverpool are missing attackers, and would hope to do more with the lion’s share of the ball at home.
Slot didn’t overlook this is his assessment of the positives, following up his previous comment with the following:
But for me, it is also clear and obvious we find it quite hard to generate enough chances for all the ball possession we have and that’s not new for us this season. What the players try to do is they just keep on trying, they bring the ball towards the wingers, they make inside runs, they play and move and they do all the kind of things, but sometimes you need a bit of magic to unlock a game or a set-piece. If that then happens then all of a sudden everything looks much nicer, but that is not our season until now.“
The Reds will need to improve on this fast ahead of two tough tests coming up next.
