Opta figures reveal eye-opening statistic which sums up how Arne Slot’s reign has deteriorated

It explained: ‘For the first time since Arne Slot arrived, Liverpool’s six-game rolling average non-penalty xG against in the Premier League has been higher than their rolling average non-pen xG for across more than one game.’

From a high of 3 xG For and just over 0.5 Against in the early weeks of 2025, there’s now a discrepancy of almost 0.5 xG in the Against direction over the past six top-flight matches.

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The numbers don’t lie – Liverpool have been poor lately

We get that xG figures aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and even a casual observer of Liverpool this season would be able to see the problems which have dogged Slot’s side, but the numbers from our last six Premier League games (via Fotmob) are interesting to note nonetheless.

The drop-off in xG For over the last couple of matches can be partly explained by the injuries which have ruled out Hugo Ekitike, Mo Salah and (for the Man United game) Alexander Isak, but there’s no mitigation for the worryingly high xG Against figures from the two matches prior to last weekend.

That the Reds won 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace despite having twice as many xG Against than for would indicate that we got out of jail that afternoon, and the two defeats listed above could easily have been a lot more comprehensive than the eventual one-goal margins.

Those numbers add quantitative evidence to the eye test of just how unconvincing Liverpool have been in recent weeks, despite the three successive top-flight wins in April which look like they might just get us over the line in the race for Champions League qualification.

At least there was a substantial improvement in xG Against last Saturday, but what matters most now is that Slot’s team get the results which’ll secure a top-five finish. Ideally, those would also be accompanied by performances to allow us to end this dismal campaign on a somewhat high note.