Arne Slot‘s first competitive game at Anfield saw Liverpool break their own Premier League record, with a statistic that sums up the head coach’s impact.
The Reds made it back-to-back wins to start the campaign thanks to goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah, with Brentford unable to muster a response.
The manner of the victory was hard to ignore, with Liverpool able to shut the game down after creating a buffer – and to say the Reds ‘killed them with passes’ would be an understatement.
As per FotMob, Liverpool finished the match with 602 passes compared to Brentford‘s 358 – and they enjoyed an incredible accuracy of 92 percent.
With 551 passes finding their target, it is the club’s best passing accuracy in a Premier League game since 2003/04, when Opta first began recording.
92% – Liverpool completed 92% of their passes in today’s game against Brentford, their best passing accuracy in a Premier League game on record since 2003-04. Slotted. pic.twitter.com/5QFdd72YAt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 25, 2024
It sums up how Slot wants his team to play and control a match, which he discussed with Jamie Carragher leading up to the Bees’ visit.
The Dutchman explained on Sky Sports: “Liverpool used every moment they could to play the ball in behind [before under Klopp].
“That meant that the game was sometimes a bit open, especially in the last period of Jurgen. Sometimes I tell the players to get a better judgement in risk and reward.
“So if you can put some balls in front of the goalkeeper, please try and do so if not, it’s also a good idea to keep the ball but I’m sure if Jurgen was in the room now he’d say he’d want to keep the ball once in a while too.”
Slot does not want to curb any and all risk, he wants it to be calculated and intentional. It helps reduce the risk of turnovers and Liverpool can grow in confidence within games and week by week.
It may not feel as though your heart is in your throat or as emotionally turbulent anymore, but it is a progression of the side we have needed.
Liverpool are controlled in the buildup, patterns of play are emerging between the players and they are, importantly, composed on the ball.
We are only two games in, but we are certainly seeing what Slot is bringing to the table and that is more than what a manager down the M62 can say after more than two seasons.
