Here's the bold facts that should send shivers down any Liverpool fan's spine.
New Year, new problems
- Last week we showed you what the Premier League table would look like if the season started on January 1st . Well, following the weekend's defeat at Newcastle, it's now even worse than that. With eight points from a possible 36, Liverpool would sit 19th in the table. To paraphrase the motto of the city's John Lennon airport: above us only sky, below us only Wolves.
The Fenway Sports Group have stated that qualification for the Champions League isn't a priority this season. Which is lucky because Liverpool currently lie closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than they do to fourth place (18 points).
Shooting blanks
- Liverpool are also 19th in the total goals scored table. Their 36 strikes from 31 league games equates to a goals-per-game ratio of 1.16 - even worse than the Souness team of 1991-92, widely derided as one of the worse in the club's history.
The Kop's top scorer this season is Luis Suarez with a paltry seven goals. The last time they went through a full season without a player reaching double figures was 2004-05, when Milan Baros came closest with nine.
Another striker, Dirk Kuyt has been a shadow of the player he was last season. The Dutchman scored 13 goals in 2010-11 compared to only two this time round while his shooting accuracy had dropped from 62% to 46.7%. This gives him a conversion rate of only 6.7% compared to 26% last year.
All mouth and no tackle
- The loss of Lucas and lengthy absences of Steven Gerrard appear to have cost Liverpool their bite in midfield. They have won only 450 tackles this season compared to 631 last term, and have come out better in 1,566 duels as opposed to 2,163 last season.
Conversely, Liverpool's statistics when it comes to passing are actually better than last season. They have completed 80.8% of passes compared to 77.1% last season and been more successful with their crosses too - suggesting the problems lie with their forwards. Or, in other words, Andy Carroll.
They've lost that winning feeling
- How's this for a warning from history: Kenny Dalglish has seen his side lose six of the last seven league games (to Manchester United, Arsenal, Sunderland, QPR, Wigan and Newcastle). The last time that happened was in the 1953-54 season...when they were relegated.
Fortress Anfield is now just a distant memory. Liverpool have only won a third of their games at Anfield (five from 15) and will have to win another two just to equal the relegation team of 1953-54.
To add insult to injury, Liverpool could finish behind Everton for only the second time in Premier League history. Their arch rivals are one place and a point above them in the table - and Liverpool haven't got winning the Champions League to fall back on this time.
Smells like no team spirit
- Despite spending most of the season developing a siege mentality that, at times, bordered on the mental, Kenny Dalglish's side appear to be cracking under the pressure. Not only did Andy Carroll lose it bigtime with his manager at St James' Park on Sunday , but even archetypal team player Steven Gerrard appeared to lose his rag. As the clip below shows.
source: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-in-crisis-the-stats-and-video-that-proves-the-Reds-are-going-backwards-FACT-article885935.html
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