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If you can’t beat them, join them. After spending much of the first half of the season increasingly frustrated by his side’s inability to defend against set pieces, Arne Slot’s side have now become the Premier League’s set-piece leaders.
All three first-half goals in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over West Ham United were statistically recognised as being ‘scored from a set piece’, remarkably meaning that it was seven consecutive league goals scored from such a method for the Reds.
It’s a stark contrast to two months ago when Slot’s side were officially the worst team in the league for set pieces, having scored the joint-least. The champions had scored three and conceded 12, giving them an aggregate of minus nine, something Slot was well aware of.
"It's impossible to be top four, top-five with our set-piece balance, let alone winning the league,” said Slot in late December. "I know the importance of it, it gets more and more, and that's why we are so annoyed by our current record.”
Days later, set-piece coach Aaron Briggs left his role at the club, a role he wasn’t initially appointed to, and Liverpool’s coaching staff have since taken on duties collectively.
Since the turn of the year, Liverpool have now scored the most (non-penalty) set-pieces in the Premier League, with nine - which is three more than set-piece kings Arsenal during that time - and conceded just two.
Quizzed about the turnaround post-match, Slot offered a rather vague explanation that “things went back to normal" but it has clearly been much more than that.
"The first half of the season, almost every set-piece we conceded went in. Now we start scoring from set-pieces and things start looking brighter and better than when you don’t."
But it isn’t just a case of luck now going their way. Liverpool’s corners are now maximising their two biggest assets: Mohamed Salah’s delivery and Virgil van Dijk’s heading ability.
To the observer, the Reds’ corners look a lot simpler. The concocted corner routines have largely gone and instead Salah or Dominik Szoboszlai put in pretty accurate deliveries to the danger area for Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to contest.
When the ball isn’t headed in from the initial delivery, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister are well placed on the edge of the box to then contest the second ball. That worked to great effect for Hugo Ekitike’s opening goal when the Dutchman assisted the Frenchman.
Liverpool go back to basics on set pieces
Van Dijk then headed in directly from Szoboszlai’s delivery and Mac Allister was perfectly placed for the third goal from Ekitike’s knock back.
You could argue that this shows you don’t need to overcomplicate it; get your two best deliverers of the ball on either side, have them deliver in-swinging corners to your two centre-backs, and put your two defensive midfielders around the edge of the box to contest knockdowns and second balls.
“Maybe one or two small details have changed defensively and offensively,” admitted Slot. “Our set-up is slightly different, but the biggest reason is that things go back to normal. There was a time when we were 23 goals behind Arsenal, including penalties, and we have closed the gap a bit.”
West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who looked impressive for the visitors, admitted his side had trained around stopping Van Dijk on corners. “These are the details when you play against these big teams,” he mused. “The small details are the difference.”
Those small details are now going Liverpool’s way, which releases the pressure that was being placed upon the team by conceding set pieces so consistently in the first half of the season. That in itself created anxiety on the pitch and in the stands.
Not that the restlessness has completely gone from the Anfield crowd. While it was 3-0 at half time, there were certainly frustrations displayed from sections of the home crowd when sloppy play in defence gifted West Ham several chances.
“I could feel the nervousness in the stadium,” admitted Slot. “That, of course, makes sense because so many times this season we’ve given away a very comfortable lead, completely unnecessary but it did happen.”
Thankfully for the Dutchman, his side proceeded to get their joint-biggest win of the season, scoring five goals in the league for the first time since confirming their title win last season against Tottenham in April.
Cody Gakpo’s first goal in his last eight starts made it four, before the electric Jeremie Frimpong forced an own goal for the fifth.
The business end of the season
Liverpool still don’t look fluid in attack, with Salah extending his Premier League goal drought to 10 games, but with the reliance upon open-play creation being eased by their new effectiveness on set-pieces, they’re heading in the right direction as we enter the business end of the season.
"The last four or five months is when teams show what they can do,” said Mac Allister post-match, whose form perhaps more than anyone’s has mirrored that of the team overall this season.
“We know how important it is to qualify for the Champions League for the club and us as a team. The goal is there and we are going to do everything to qualify and be closer to the teams on top."
With Aston Villa’s defeat on the same weekend, Slot’s side are now just three points behind the third-placed Villans and all of a sudden they looking up the table rather than behind them.
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