Slot's Liverpool lack intensity and the numbers prove it

With a blend of data and opinion, we reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. 

What happened to Liverpool's intensity?

An inability to maintain the levels has been a feature of Liverpool's season under Arne Slot. His team lacked intensity in their lacklustre showing against Brighton on Saturday lunchtime but perhaps the seeds of that poor performance were sown in midweek.

"Every game should be the same," said Dominik Szoboszlai after the 4-0 win over Galatasaray. "It is difficult because Champions League nights are under the lights at Anfield, good weather and a nice pitch. To go to Brighton, a 12.30pm kick-off, it is not the same."

Being there in Slot's press conference after that emphatic win in Europe on Wednesday night, it was striking that even on a positive night for the club, the head coach also had a negative slant on things. He was already downplaying expectations against Brighton.

"We would like us to perform every single time at this level. Unfortunately, for the fifth or sixth time now, I think we only get two days' rest to go to Brighton, early kick-off. For me, that's not good. Players get injured in this period because it is such a tight schedule."

He continued: "We should have been given a bit more rest, but that hasn't happened a lot. So, Brighton is an intense team we're going to face and we will bring the best game possible again on Saturday, but you cannot compare Brighton to Galatasaray."

The Liverpool manager will likely feel vindicated in his concerns given that Mohamed Salah was not fit enough to take part in the game and Hugo Ekitike bowed out of it early on with an injury. The 2-1 defeat leaves them outside of the top four with seven to play.

But as one former Liverpool player put it in a Premier League press room over the weekend, Slot made the mistake of alluding to the dreaded T word. If you tell football players that they are entitled to feel tired then it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is some suggestion that Liverpool have been trying to manage their workload all season and that this has impacted the team's tactics. Certainly, the pressing game of old has gone. For fans, a side once famed for its intensity has become unrecognisable.

The running stats tell some of the tale. Liverpool had ranked top of the Premier League for distance covered in the Premier League during Jurgen Klopp's first full season in charge. This season, they are in the bottom three for the first time since such records began.

It is a crude statistic, really. Liverpool were ranked 16th for distance covered last season and won the title, after all. But it can be considered illustrative of a trend in the team's evolution. Liverpool's energy was once their hallmark. Now they are a different side.

Examine the PPDA numbers, measuring passes allowed per defensive action. Long regarded as a measure of a team's pressing, of their intensity off the ball, Liverpool ranked top for PPDA in their last great season under Klopp. Now they are down in eighth.

Slot favours a slower, more controlled possession game, but then bemoans Liverpool's inability to break down defences. He laments the rising importance of set pieces, but then sees Thomas Gronnemark, their old throw-in coach, working with leaders Arsenal.

The win over Galatasaray was a reminder that this team are at their best when they play at a higher tempo, channelling the Liverpool of old. Their inability or unwillingness to do this under Slot - physically, mentally and tactically - has been a problem for them all season.