Before Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham, it was revealed that the Reds would be without Trent Alexander-Arnold for a few weeks due to injury. The vice-captain had damaged knee ligaments in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Arsenal, necessitating a short period on the sidelines.
While Alexander-Arnold’s injury ostensibly came at a ‘good’ time, with Liverpool now set to enjoy a week and a half of relative rest as a result of the Premier League’s winter break, Opta’s Michael Reid pointed out that Jürgen Klopp is now without the four players who have created the most chances for the Reds this season. Mohamed Salah is away at AFCON, of course, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson are recovering from injuries of their own.
It was somewhat predictable, then, that Liverpool struggled to create from open-play against Fulham on Wednesday night. Conor Bradley, the 20-year-old stand-in at right-back, was individually excellent, deservedly winning the club’s player-of-the-match award, but the problem was that the home side wasn’t functioning as a collective attacking unit. The absence of established on-field relationships was obvious, and the team’s attacking play was so slow and extremely laborious without the incision of Alexander-Arnold.
But there was another, unexpected way in which the Reds missed the Englishman too. Liverpool won eight corners over the course of the game, with duties primarily falling to Alexis Mac Allister, who took six while Harvey Elliott took the other two. The Argentine was also responsible for the team’s two most dangerous wide free-kicks on the edge of the penalty area, but finished the game without an accurate cross despite attempting a team-high seven.
So many of his deliveries were easily dealt with, often by the first man. Only two found a red shirt, and none led directly to a chance. There was one that nearly resulted in a penalty as it struck the hand of Fulham defender Antonee Robinson, but the very fact it was at hand-height shows that it was a poor ball.
Between them, Alexander-Arnold, Szoboszlai, Robertson and the also-injured Kostas Tsimikas have taken 132 of Liverpool’s 133 Premier League corners this season, with Elliott the only other player to do so. Klopp, then, had to designate a new taker for the game against Fulham, but Mac Allister was a slightly strange choice. He only took 12 for Brighton last season, and created just seven dead-ball chances for the Seagulls.
Liverpool lead the Premier League for set-piece shots per game with 5.1, so they’re clearly a big part of the team’s threat. Only the notoriously gifted crosser James Ward-Prowse (31) has played more dead-ball passes leading to a shot attempt than Alexander-Arnold (25) this season, emphasizing that he’s crucial to the potency of the Reds’ weapon.
Given that Liverpool is seemingly going to find it much more difficult to break down teams from open play in the next couple of games, it may need to rely on a couple of set-piece goals. As such, Klopp would be wise to reallocate corner and free-kick duties for the time being after a poor showing from Mac Allister. The hope will be that Szoboszlai, a multi-dimensional creative asset, is back available to face Bournemouth, because Liverpool may suffer at the Vitality Stadium, and in the semi-final second leg, without a specialist on the field.
