Over the international break, we’re reviewing every Premier League team’s start to the season – and we continue here with Liverpool.
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RESULTS SO FAR
| GW | Result | Liverpool’s xG | Liverpool’s xGC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle 2-2 Liverpool | 2.98 | 1.58 |
| 2 | Liverpool 2-2 Nott’m Forest | 1.75 | 2.30 |
| 3 | Ipswich 0-2 Liverpool | 0.69 | 0.75 |
| 4 | Liverpool 0-0 Fulham | 1.28 | 0.70 |
| 5 | Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool | 1.65 | 0.79 |
Liverpool are unbeaten in their first five matches, with two wins, three draws and nine points.
Defensively, they have definitely improved, with three consecutive clean sheets against Ipswich Town, Fulham and Bournemouth prior to the international break.
They didn’t concede more than 0.79 expected goals (xG) in any of those games, either.
Notably, that run of shutouts has coincided with the deployment of Ronald Araujo (£5.4m) at right-back.
Further forward, Iraola’s men rank seventh for xG, with seven actual goals scored in five matches.
Given their ticker-topping run in Gameweeks 1-5, they’ve probably underwhelmed a bit in that regard, having been outscored by seven other teams.
XG/XGC RANK V OTHER TEAMS
| Total | Rank v other clubs | |
|---|---|---|
| xG | 8.34 | 7th |
| xGC | 6.12 | 3rd |
LINE-UP LESSONS
Iraola has used a 4-2-3-1 formation in every match so far, with Alisson Becker (£5.5m), Jeremy Jacquet (£5.0m), Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m), Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.9m), Florian Wirtz (£7.3m) and Alexander Isak (£9.1) the six permanent starters.
Araujo has quickly established himself as the primary right-back option.
Milos Kerkez (£5.3m) has predominantly started on the left, with Alexis Mac Allister (£5.4m) and Ryan Gravenberch (£5.8m) rotating in the central midfield position alongside Szoboszlai.
Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) was restricted to substitute duty in Gameweek 4, having previously been flagged as an injury doubt heading into the match against Fulham. He has started all other matches, though.
New arrival Bradley Barcola (£8.0m) has featured in the starting line-up in both Gameweeks 4 and 5.
SET-PIECE TAKERS
| Corners | Szoboszlai (17), Tsimikas (2), Mac Allister (1) |
| Crosses from free-kicks | Szoboszlai (9) |
| Shots from direct free-kicks | Szoboszlai (6) |
| Penalties | Szoboszlai (1) |
Szoboszlai is the primary corner and free-kick taker at Liverpool.
He also stepped up to convert their only penalty this season, away at Newcastle United in Gameweek 1.
TOP PLAYERS FOR DEFCONS
