Liverpool’s awful record of conceding first is the worst in 29 years

Liverpool’s slow starts have been a major problem this season, outlined by them matching an unwanted record set back in 1996.

It couldn’t have been a worse start for Liverpool at Brentford, with their long-throw brilliance leading to Dango Ouattara opening the scoring.

The game was only five minutes old, giving the champions an immediate mountain to climb, in what has been a recurring theme since August.

In fact, football data editor Michael Reid has pointed out that Liverpool have now conceded in the opening 15 minutes of their last four league games – the first time it has happened since January 1996.

The first of those matches was at Crystal Palace last month, with Ismaila Sarr firing the Eagles in front in just the ninth minute.

Then came Moises Caicedo’s long-range thunderbolt to open the scoring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, before Bryan Mbeumo’s second-minute strike for Man United at Anfield last weekend.

This hapless run of four fixtures in a row conceding early was completed at Brentford, with Liverpool giving themselves too much to do every week.

It means that Arne Slot‘s pre-match tactical plan is essentially being torn up and thrown away before matches have barely started, allowing their opponents to adopt a low block.

Last season, Liverpool still weren’t perfect when it came to conceding first, doing so 13 times in the league, going on to win only four and draw seven, losing the other two.

This time around, though, they have won only once and lost the other four, with the Reds’ only success after falling behind coming in the dramatic 3-2 victory at Newcastle in August.

This all points towards a weak mentality from Liverpool, who are going into games lacking the focus required to retain the Premier League title.

The goals scored by Sarr, Caicedo, Mbeumo and Outtara were all poor defensively, from soft marking to be too easy to run through.

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The Reds feel like an easy touch, which is damning, and opponents are showing more fight than they are from minute one.

Slot himself gave a scathing verdict of Liverpool’s performance, when asked what disappointed him the most about it.

“Doing the basics right,” Slot said.

“Although if you are 1-0 down, 2-0 down, 3-1 down with the energy in the stadium, that is definitely helpful for them, and they are a very good team in winning duels and winning second balls, so you have to give them credit for that as well, but of course it is hard to win a game of football if the other team wins more duels, more second balls than you – especially if that is also something they are playing off.

“Again, like I’ve said many times, it’s also difficult to win a game of football if the set-piece balance is in their favour.”

If Liverpool fail to stop this trend of going 1-0 down, and improving many facets of their play, their season will fall apart before Christmas.