The EPL Stats Gallery: xG timeline, shot maps, smart passes and more from Liverpool vs Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Liverpool hosted Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side at Anfield on Saturday, in Matchday 5 of the 2021/22 Premier League season. Jurgen Klopp’s men came out 3-0 winners of the match, but the scoreline does not tell the whole story. Liverpool’s goals came from three corners, scored by Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Naby Keita. Liverpool could not break the defensive lines of the visitors from London, and it was a difficult game, but Klopp would be happy with the desire and mentality of the team.

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;

How many attacks were created by Liverpool? Which player had the highest xG rate in the entire match?

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.

Liverpool was lined up by Jurgen Klopp in his favoured 4-3-3 formation with high pressing tactics. The front three were Salah, Mane and Jota. The midfield three included Fabinho in the centre, Thiago on the left and Henderson on the right. Alisson Becker started between the sticks. Their back four had a few changes from previous recent games, with Tsimikas at left-back and James Milner at right-back after both these players did not feature in the midweek UCL clash against AC Milan. After joining from RB Leipzig in the summer transfer window, Ibrahima Konate made his debut for the Reds, as he started alongside Virgil Van Dijk as the two centre-backs.

The average positions of the Liverpool players show that they were playing a much more advanced position on the field, and showed high pressing throughout the game with a lot of energy. They spent most of the time with the ball and in the opposition’s half.

Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace side was lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Vicente Guaita started in goal for the Eagles behind a back four including left-back Tyrick Mitchell, centre backs Marc Guehi and Joachim Anderson, and right-back Joel Ward. Kouyate started in the central midfielder position alongside captain James McArthur on the left and Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher on the right side of the midfield. Wilfred Zaha played on the left-wing, while Jordan Ayew played on the right, with Christian Benteke leading the line.

The average positions of the Crystal Palace players show that they were in a much more defensive position and shape in the match, as they faced a lot of attacks from the opposition. The striker Benteke also had a deeper average position, as he was dropping deeper to help out the buildup and defence in midfield.

The home team Liverpool had a decent match against The Eagles, as they had an xG of 3.46 in the game where they attempted a total of 25 shots on the opposition goal. They had a total of ten shots on target and were able to score three goals in the match. On the other hand, Palace only had an xG of 0.94, as they took a total of ten shots in the game, with just two on target and no goals. Liverpool had many more attacks than Palace, and also had 55% possession in the match.

Liverpool scored all three goals from set-pieces, but Klopp should be happy, considering that they still managed a way to score three goals even if it wasn’t their best day. Diogo Jota had the highest individual xG in the game with 1.08, and he missed the biggest opportunity of the match when he struck the wall over the top of the goal from just two yards out. Salah took a total of six shots in the game, which was the highest. He also had the most dribbles in the game with eight, along with Wilfred Zaha who also had eight. James Milner had the highest number of passes in the final third, with 12.

The shot map of the home team shows all the 25 shots they took in the match. They took a lot of shots from inside and the edge of the penalty area, with a few shots from outside the box as well. Salah and Mane scored the first two goals from inside the box for Liverpool, from both corners taken by Tsimikas. Naby Keita scored their third, with a great volley when the ball was cleared from yet another corner, this time taken by Salah.

Crystal Palace’s shot map shows that they took only two or three of their ten shots from inside the penalty area. The rest of their shots were taken from long range, as they only hid the target twice in the game. The shots from distance were the main reason for their low xG value.

The xT timeline of the match shows that Crystal Palace had a good start in the match, creating some threat in the beginning. After that, Liverpool dominated the entirety of the first and the second half, creating a lot of threats over the 90 minutes. The xG timeline of the match shows a continuous increase in xG for the Reds, while the Eagles had a relatively lower xG all through the game.

The pass matrix of Liverpool shows that they completed a very high number of passes in the match and had a lot of possession. James Milner attempted the most number of passes with 86, followed by Van Dijk with 55. A lot of players received a large number of passes with Milner being the highest again with 46, followed by Konate at 44, Van Dijk at 44, Salah, Henderson and Fabinho at 41.

The Eagles’ pass matrix showed that they also had a decent number of passes and good possession in the match. Mitchell had the maximum number of passes attempted with 61, while Anderson and Mitchell also received the most passes with 27. The pass zones of Liverpool show that they had a lot of passes in the match, especially on the right-wing and the right side of midfield. Sadio Mane made nine passes into the opposition box, while Jordan Henderson made six. The home team also put in a decent number of crosses into the box and scored all three goals through the aftermath of crosses coming in from corners. The passing zones of Crystal Palace show that they completed most of their passes in the midfield and defensive areas, with a lot of passes on the left side of midfield. Wilfred Zaha put in six passes into the opposition box, which was the highest. The Eagles only put in a few crosses into the box.

The xT creation zones of Liverpool show that they created a decent amount of threat in various attacking positions around the opposition box. James Milner had the highest xT (expected threat) creation among the Reds. Other than James Milner, Jordan Henderson also had a high xT creation from his passes. In terms of xT creation from dribbles, Tsimikas and Sadio Mane had the highest xT, followed by a decent xT creation from Diogo Jota. The xT creation zones of the visitors, Crystal Palace, show that they did not create a lot of threat in the major attacking positions upfront. Wilfred Zada had the highest xT creation among the Eagles.

Other than Wilfred Zaha, the loanee from Chelsea, Conor Gallagher also had a decent xT creation from passing. Young striker Edouard had the highest xT creation from successful dribbles, followed by Jordan Ayew. Liverpool faced a large number of defensive duels in the match, most of them being on the left side of the field, in defence, midfield and attack. James Milner was involved in the most number of duels for the Reds, winning three of them. There were only a few aerial duels in the match, most of them being around both the penalty boxes. Virgil Van Dijk won the most aerial duels in the game, winning all seven of his duels. Jurgen Klopp believes in the philosophy of pressing from upfront, leading his team to do a lot of pressing and make a lot of loose ball recoveries in the attacking areas. James Milner made the most recoveries with three, with a lot of other players also making two recoveries each. Crystal Palace had to be involved in a very large number of defensive duels in the match, with the Liverpool forwards coming at them continuously in the match. Tyrick Mitchell won the most defensive duels for the Eagles with five.

Like their opponents, Crystal Palace also faced most of the aerial duels near both the penalty areas. Benteke and Ayew both won two aerial duels ewach for the Eagles.

Due to the constant pressing by the Reds, Palace had to be involved in a lot of loose ball duels in defensive positions. Most of their players made one or two loose ball recoveries for them in the match.

Liverpool should be happy, as they were able to go to the top of the Premier League table at least till tomorrow. Jurgen Klopp will be happy, as this was not their best game, but they were able to find a way to score three goals, Viera won’t be happy with his team’s result, but performance-wise, he would have seen improvement and will be motivated for the upcoming games.

Diogo Jota had the highest xG creation in the match, with 1.08. He was also presented with the biggest and easiest goalscoring opportunity from two yards in front of an empty goal. Jota was somehow able to miss from two yards, thus having a high xG but no goal. Liverpool had 25 shots on goal from 43 attacks in the match, which was more than double Crystal Palace’s 20 attacks.

If you want to download the stats report in PDF format you can do so here:

EFL Stats Gallery: Liverpool vs Crystal Palace