James Pearce highlights ‘pitiful’ Liverpool statistic which should embarrass Slot and his players

He wrote:‘Liverpool’s away record against teams in the top half of the Premier League table is pitiful. With a trip to Villa to come, they have taken two points out of a possible 24. Far too often they have wilted on their travels.

‘The fact they still look destined to secure Champions League football says far more about the inadequacies of the chasing pack rather than any signs of Liverpool progressing in recent months.’

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The decline from last season is stark

As of Monday lunchtime, the highest-placed team that the Reds have beaten away in the league this season is Everton in 11th, and even that required a Virgil van Dijk winner nine minutes into stoppage time.

Liverpool collected 13 points from a possible 27 away to top-half finishers in the Premier League last term, and that record includes the caveat that two of the defeats (Chelsea and Brighton) came after the title had already been secured.

In this campaign, their only points on the road against current top-10 teams were collected in the space of five days at the start of January. While a draw at Arsenal was respectable, it came just after a prospective win at Fulham was tossed away deep into added time, which in itself sums up our season.

If the league table were to finish as it currently stands and the Reds don’t win at Villa Park the weekend after next, to go through the entire campaign without winning away to another top-half side would be a terrible indictment of Slot and his players.

That the top-10 away record could plausibly be two points from a possible 27 would be downright embarrassing, and would perfectly capture just how horrendous this season has been, even if we do ultimately salvage Champions League qualification.