Why don't Liverpool do not achieve free kicks – and who should take them with them now?

Let's start with a short quiz question.

Who, apart from Trent Alexander-Arnold, is the Liverpool player who most recently scores from a direct free kick in the Premier League?

I'll give you an idea. It happened in 2017 and was achieved by a player who, as the Real Madrid Target Alexander-Arnold, left Angefield to Spain this summer.

We give you the answer at the end of the article, but the fact that it was over seven years since someone in a Liverpool shirt except Alexander-Arnold was not only successful on the characteristics of the team, but also through the team across the team across the team.

Since an 18-year-old Alexander-Arnold was achieved in a Champions League qualification game against Germany's Hoffenheim in his European debut in August 2017, the responsibility has remained with him despite the interest of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, which he would do regularly after training.

Alexander-Arnold tirelessly worked on his set technology and tried to shoot in many ways from different distances and angles. His six goals from approval in the Premier League (eight in all competitions)-last April 21 of last year in a 3-1 win against Fulham-Ließen a standard that none of his teammates had achieved.

Since he made his debut in December 2016, Liverpool has been fourth in the Premier League for goals from direct free kicks with 11, behind Southampton (both 17), Manchester City (15) and Chelsea (12), but only two player-alexander-Arnold, which are one of them in total.

Now, when the 26-year-old leaves at the end of the campaign, when his contract runs and completes a move to Madrid, there is the possibility that a new free kicker will rise and be counted. The question is who?

Since 2016, many other Liverpool players have tried to work from Frekicks, but everyone is too short, surprisingly the most wasteful. The Egyptian, who is up to fifth in the goal of the Premier League era at 185, has never achieved a free kick for Liverpool and is on an unfortunate run of 17 unsuccessful strikes in the upper escape.

In recent times, Salah has usually done aside to enable others. This season he tried only a direct shot in a dead metropolitan situation against Manchester United in January. The last season was the same (his only attempt came against Nottingham Forest in October), and both were by no means in the goal. For a player who is such a creative force and beats the ball so clean in open game, it is unusual that Salah only achieved his country in games against Ghana (2017) and Uganda (2019).

Liverpool did not stop this to distract him and deceive opponents when free disputes are obtained.

For years, Salah has contributed to changing the perspective for the Frekick truck to the goal by rolling his bolts over the ball before a shot. Here Alexander-Arnold in Chelsea is in September 2019 after this specific movement:

Even if Salah himself rarely shoots in a free kick situation, he also remains an important part of the structure, as can be seen in the 2-1 defeat of last week against Chelsea, where he stood above the ball and how he wanted to shoot Harvey Elliott who did not disturb the back line of the hosts.

With regard to other competitors, Dominik Szoboszlai (10 direct free kick shots without a hit for Liverpool) quickly with Salah, although with Hungary he has a better record of dead balls at an international level. Alexis Mac Allister (three attempts) may be best placed to take over from Alexander-Arnold, as his shooting technique is well polished and a few of his free kicks have already hit the woodwork. For Elliott (also three), his chances of earning the role depend on his future and whether he is willing to accept another season if he is not a player of the first choice.

Van Dijk (five) has not tried a shot from a direct free kick since the 3-1 home win against Bournemouth in August 2023 when he tried to lure the goalkeeper from the Halfway line. The conversion rate of the Dutch was better than that of Alexander-Arnold in his earlier years with Liverpool, but his threats from set pieces are now largely limited to driving to crosses and corners.

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In the Premier League, fewer goals are scored directly from free kicks.

With three rounds of games, only 12 goals from free kick recordings are achieved this season, which is expected to achieve the second lowest total since the campaign in 1997/98. The only one with less than this was last season with 11-a quarter of the entire Premier League record in 2007/08.

Liverpool is one of 11 teams in the 20 team division, which is still a direct free kick in 2024-25 points, while the number of shots they made from dead balls is the second lowest since the 2016-17 season.

These lack of goal attempts are likely to correlate with Liverpool, which do not win a high volume of free kicks in potentially profitable shooting positions. This graphic shows that this season you won free kicks in the games of the Premier League. Relatively few secured in central areas near the edge of the opposition's number of punishments.

Liverpool tends to focus on their attack data entries, which are more on the flanks than through the center and Salah on the right and usually Luis Diaz on the left. This means that their free fights are often awarded in wide areas, which leads to shots from the following set pieces. A similar trend applies to Arsenal.

Liverpool's production might have been better this season if Alexander-Arnold had been available more often.

He missed four of her 35 league games by injury and started another three on the bench. His absence from her team is something that Liverpool now has to get used to, and it becomes more important to find a specialist for replacement violations.

Oh, and the answer to the question at the beginning of this article? It was Coutinho who achieved Brighton & Hove Albion against Brighton & Hove Albion in December 2017 just a month before his record of £ 125 million ($ 167 million on the current exchange rate) to Barcelona.

(Toptoto: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)