Stats Gallery: xG timeline, shot maps, xT and more from Porto vs Liverpool in the UCL | OneFootball

Liverpool travelled to Portugal to play Porto at the Estadio do Dragao in the second game of Group B of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League.

The Reds had picked up a 3-2 victory over old-time rivals AC Milan on the opening day of this UCL campaign. FC Porto had travelled to Atletico Madrid a fortnight ago to earn a goalless draw against the defending Spanish La Liga Champions.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team were able to pick a 5-1 victory in Portugal, to make it two wins out of two for the six-time UCL champions. Mo Salah opened the scoring for the Reds after 18 minutes, followed by Mane making it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime. Salah extended the lead to 3-0 on the hour mark, before Taremi got one back for Porto. Roberto Firmino then settled the tie with a quick brace towards the end, for the match which ended 5-1 in the visitor’s favour.

We’ve broken down all the key stats for you to digest, including; * shot maps * xT (expected threat) * pass networks * xG timelines * defensive duels * average positions and much more!

We also try to answer some questions for you with the visuals;

Which Porto player attempted the most number of passes? What were the passing zones for Liverpool?

To navigate the stats gallery simply click on the numbers to move through the pages.

At the end of the gallery, you’ll be able to download the full PDF stats report.

Sergio Conceicao lined up the Fc Porto team in a 4-4-2 formation with Mehdi Taremi and Antonio Martinez leading the line as the two strikers. Luis Fernando Diaz played as the left-winger, with central midfielders Mateus Uribe and Sergio Oliviera, and right-winger Otavio completed the midfield four, who played in front of a back four including left-back Zaidu Sanusi, centre-backs Ivan Marcano and Fabio Cardoso, and right-back Jesus Corona. Diogo costa started in goal for the Portuguese club. The average positions of the Porto players showed that they had to do a lot of defending in the match, leading to their player’s average positions being around the halfway line. The strikers Taremi and Martinez had to drop into midfield to counter the constant pressing from Liverpool’s front line.

Jurgen Klopp lined up the Reds in a 4-3-3 formation with Alisson in goal behind a back four including left-back Andy Robertson, centre-backs Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip, and right back James Milner. the midfield three had Curtis Jones on the left, Fabinho in the middle and captain Jordan Henderson on the right. The front three started with Mane on the left, Salah on the right and Jota through the centre. Bobby Firmino later came on replacing Jota to score a second-half brace.

The average positions of the Liverpool players showed that they attacked a lot in the game and were pressing their opponents from upfront using their front three. Almost all their players had average positions in the opponent’s half.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool had a great game in Portugal as they created an overall xG of 3.25 in the match, taking a total of 21 shots in the game, hitting the target a mammoth 13 times, scoring five goals. The Reds boasted 62% of the possession and almost had three times more attacks than their opponents. The home team just created an xG of 0.48 in the match, taking six shots with three on target and just one goal from Mehdi Taremi.

Mo Salah had the highest individual xG in the match with 1.17, followed by Mane’s 0.66, Jota’s 0.53 and Firmino’s 0.51. Curtis Jones had a good game for his boyhood club, as he took a total of five shots in the match and also put 14 passes into the final third, which were both the highest in the match.

FC Porto’s shot map shows that they only managed to take six shots in the game, hitting the target thrice. They took a couple of shots from way out, while others were from close range, with the goal coming from the middle of the 18-yard box.The Red’s shot map indicates their domination in the match, showing their 21 shots in the match, out of which 13 were on target. the keeper made eight saves in the game for Porto, but still conceded five goals, four of them from inside the box.

The xT creation timeline of the match shows that Liverpool completely dominated the match, literally creating all of the xT(expected threat) in the match. FC Porto started to create a little more in the second half, also getting a consolation goal. the xG timeline of the match shows the steep increase of xG for Liverpool during the 90 minutes of the game in comparison to that of FC Porto.

The pass matrix of Fc Porto indicates their low possession of 38% in the match with the low number of passes. Ivan Marcano attempted the most passes for the Portuguese club with 40 passes, while also receiving the most passes for the team with 25. Jesus Corona also attempted a total of 34 passes and also received 22 in the match.

Liverpool’s pass matrix shows that they had a lot of passes in the match to show for their 62% possession in the match. Virgil Van Dijk and Andy Robertson both attempted 83 passes each in the match while receiving 67 and 54 respectively. Curtis Jones also had a good game, attempting 68 passes while receiving 64.FC Porto’s passing zones show that they had a large number of their passes completed on the left side of midfield and defence. They only put in a few crosses into the box, with Jesus Corona putting in three crosses and five boxes into the opposition box. Substitute Fabio Viera had to replace winger Otavio after just fifteen minutes, as he also put in three crosses and six passes into the box.

The Reds’ passing zones showed that they completed most of their passes in midfield, with a good concentration of passes on the left side of midfield and the right-wing. Andy Robertson put in 11 passes and six crosses into the opposition box.

The xT creation zones of the Portuguese club show that they were unable to create a lot of xT in the attacking third, in and around the opposition box. Fabio Viera had the highest xT generation from his passing.

Other than Fabio Viera, Jesus Corona and Ivan Marcano also had decent xT creation from their passing. while Fabio Viera also had the highest xT generation from dribbling for Porto.

Liverpool’s xT creation zones show that they created a lot of xT(expected threat) in and around the 18-yard box in the match, with Andy Robertson generation the highest xT from his passing.

Other than Robertson, Curtis Jones and Jordan Henderson also had decent xT generation from passing, while Robertson, Jota and Salah also generated a little xT from their dribbling skills for the Reds.

Porto faced a lot of defensive duels in their defensive third, with a few in midfield and attack as well. They were only able to win less than 50% of these duels, with a lot of players able to win one or two duels each. There were not many aerial duels to be contested in the match, with just a few on the left side of midfield. Porto were only able to win a few aerial duels, with Ivan Marcano, Fabio Cardoso, Mehdi Taremi and Antonio Martinez all winning three each.

Porto contest in some loose ball duels in the match, especially on the left side of defence, midfield and attack. Luis Diaz made four loose ball recoveries for FC Porto. Liverpool contested in a decent number of defensive duels in the match, especially on the left side of defence and midfield. Curtis Jones and Joel Matip both won four defensive duels each for their team.

As mentioned earlier, there were not many aerial duels to be contested in the match, except on the right side of LFC’s midfield and left of Porto’s midfield. Fabinho won four aerial duels for The Reds, followed by Matip, Van Dijk and Milner, all winning three each.

There were opportunities for Liverpool to win many loose balls, especially a few in midfield, and a lot in attack mostly on the right side. Fabinho made four loose ball recoveries, followed by Matip, Jota and MAne, who all made three recoveries each.

The victory now sees Jurgen Klopp’s team comfortable place at the top of Group B of the 21/22 UEFA Champions League season, They have been getting regular goals from their forwards, and Klopp will be very happy because his three veterans Salah, Mane and Firmino were all on the scoresheet.

If you want to download this stats report in a PDF you can do so here:

UCL Stats Gallery: FC Porto vs Liverpool