Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s Late Win Over Leicester City

With a bit of late magic from Trent Alexander Arnold cementing a win, we take a look at what it means for Arne Slot’s Reds.

After Arsenal won playing against a 10-man Ipswich Town earlier in the day, Liverpool knew they could not win the title today. A win, however, would leave the Reds just three points shy of their second Premier League title and 20th top flight title. Liverpool were all over Leicester City early and often, hitting the post in the opening few minutes and generating several big chances throughout the first half. The Reds really began to turn the screws in the second half, fashioning chance after chance, but it seemed as if a force field were stretched in front of the Foxes net. In a moment crying out for a hero, Trent Alexander-Arnold entered the fray and dragged his team to a victory with a left-footed strike in the 76th minute.

Below, we take a look at some winners and losers on the night, and attempt to disentangle narrative from fact.

Winners

Trent Alexander-Arnold
With all the rumors swirling that the Scouse right back is on his way to Madrid, Trent returned from injury to score the winning goal after coming on as a substitute for Conor Bradley. Trent lashed the ball into the goal with his left foot after Liverpool had hit both the post and crossbar before the ball came to him. He unleashed an epic yell as he ripped off his shirt in celebration after dragging his side three points closer to another Premier league title.

Traveling Kop
The away fans were in full throat early and could be hear over the apathetic home supporters frequently throughout the match.

Defensive Core
Liverpool held the hosts to just five shots all match for a total of 0.25 xG according to FotMob. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté absolutely locked down the center of the pitch.

Creating Chances
Liverpool were all over Leicester City, especially in the second half. The Reds finished with 10 shots on target from 28 total shots, with 9 big chances created. It was the type of shot creation we haven’t seen from the Reds in several months. There were 5 players with 3 or more key passes on the day.

Losers

Finishing Chances
While Liverpool created a lot of good chances, they could only finish just the one. A mixture of luck (see below), decent goalkeeping/defending, and some just plain not that great finishing kept the Reds from breaking the game wide open.

The Goal Frame
Liverpool hit the woodwork early and late against Leicester City. Mohamed Salah thought he had scored in the opening few minutes, but his shot came off the inside of the near post before coming all the way across the goal to hit the inside of the far post and out. Later in the match, the Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota hit the post and crossbar in the sequence that led up to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s goal.

Leicester City
With the loss, the Foxes were officially relegated. Bye.

Title Math

With Arsenal winning against the hapless Tractor Boys, Liverpool were unable to seal the Premier League title this weekend. The Red’s did what they had to today to get the win and now stand three points away from mathematically sealing the title with five matches left to play. If Arsenal lost to Crystal Palace in midweek, Liverpool could be awarded the title before playing Spurs next weekend.

What Happens Next

Liverpool will return home to take on Spurs next Sunday. Regardless of what happens with Arsenal on Wednesday, expect it to be a party atmosphere at Anfield.