Liverpool extended their streak atop the Premier League table by another week on Sunday, edging out Chelsea in a 2-1 win that was closely contested by both sides.
The Reds opened the scoring when Mohamed Salah converted a penalty in the 29th minute and, though Nicolas Jackson’s 48th minute equalizer added a layer of competition to the game, Curtis Jones’ 51st minute goal gave Liverpool an advantage that they never relinquished. It marks the first big win of Arne Slot’s tenure as the Liverpool manager, with the Dutchman building upon the strong first impression he’s making in his first season in England.
Elements of Slot’s preferred style were on display on Sunday, when Liverpool were outshot by Chelsea, but were more intentional with their attempts at goal than the opponent. The Reds took just eight shots, a low but not necessarily unfamiliar figure to a team that has not managed more than 16 shots in a game all season long. They made up the gap in the quality of their shots – five were on target, and together all attempts at goal translated to 2.26 expected goals, better than Chelsea’s 1.45 xG from 12 shots.
The quality over quantity approach is becoming a staple of Slot’s. Though Liverpool rank eighth in the league for shots, they are third for shots on goal percentage and second for expected goals with 16.24, and are true to form with 15 goals in eight games. The Reds also maintained their strong defensive run despite conceding, having only let in three goals over the course of the Premier League season so far.
As Slot begins to add big games to his Liverpool résumé, he’s demonstrated some range in his tactical approach. The Reds ceded possession to Chelsea and had just 43.1% of the ball, doing that only one other time this season – their 3-0 win over Manchester United last month. They took more two more shots at goal that day, but were not necessarily an offensive juggernaut, putting just three shots on goal and mustering 1.79 expected goals. They never looked particularly uncomfortable against United, though, and against a stronger opponent in Chelsea, that was once again the case.
Slot transformed Liverpool into a more restrained side, with their average shots per game dropping from 20.8 last season to 14.1 this season. Their end product has not suffered much, though – they average 1.9 goals per game and 2 expected goals, down slightly from last season’s 2.3 goals per game and 2.4 expected goals. Slot’s approach has truly benefited their defensive outlook, with their goals against average dropping from 1.1 to 0.4 this season.
The win affords Liverpool a one point advantage at the top of the table over Manchester City, who were imperfect in a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, and affords them an impressive early start in a perhaps unexpected title charge in Slot’s first year. Liverpool now have 10 wins in their opening 11 matches under Slot, which marks as strong a progress report as any for a Premier League newcomer.
The onus will be on them to continue this form, especially against a wide variety of tests and while Slot works with Jurgen Klopp’s talented but aging squad. With a rebuild seemingly next year’s problem, Slot will have another fascinating tactical test next week at Arsenal, another defense-minded team that has title aspirations of their own.
