Liverpool have the fourth-worst record in scoring from set-pieces in this season’s Premier League, but Arne Slot expects to see a big improvement moving forward.
Leicester (five), Southampton (five) and Fulham (four) are the only sides to have scored fewer set-pieces than Liverpool (six).
Ipswich – on course to join Leicester and Southampton in dropping straight back down to the Championship – are tied on six, while Aston Villa (14), Crystal Palace (14), Arsenal (13) and Nottingham Forest (12) all have at least double.
It is understandably being held up as an area of concern for a side three points away from the title – and Slot believes Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s winner against Leicester, which came from a corner, is evidence of improvement.
“Today it was not a big chance that we scored, it was again a set-piece, in another big moment for us to score in a set-piece with us putting so much effort into it for nine or 10 months now,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“It feels really good in the moment we need it most – although we needed it against Paris Saint-Germain as well when Jarell headed it on the post.
“Now two big moments for us to score from a set-piece.”
Liverpool also scored their winner from a corner in their previous game against West Ham and there are certainly signs of improvement.
An increased responsibility for Alexis Mac Allister has clearly helped – with the Argentine’s delivery from corners and free-kicks proving more reliable than Andy Robertson, for example.
But ultimately it is time on the training pitch – and in meeting rooms at the AXA Training Centre – that Slot feels is paying off, with the expected appointment of a set-piece coach this summer only likely to improve things further.
“The work we’ve put in is that we’ve trained a lot, we have a lot of meetings about it, every single time we try to improve the details,” he continued.
“And I think it’s normal for a coaching staff that’s only nine or 10 months with that team that it doesn’t come from the first week.
“I always say, if I’m analysing an opponent, if they have their set-pieces perfect, all their throw-ins, all these kinds of things, I know their manager is already there for a long time.
“Because normally you start with bringing the ball out from the back, how to defend, then the end of that process is set-pieces.
“I think Arsenal is a great example of that, where Mikel has worked so long and they’re so good in all different phases of the game, and now they’ve become world class in set-pieces.”
That could be telling, as in Jurgen Klopp‘s ninth and final season in charge Liverpool scored the fourth-most goals from set-pieces in the Premier League, with 15.
