Defensive errors, the Opta metric for mistakes which lead to shots, have made a big impact in the Premier League this week. Exhibit A was the sloppy backpass by Takehiro Tomiyasu which enabled Kevin De Bruyne to open the scoring in the top of the table clash between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Two nights earlier, the Merseyside derby was settled by blunders. With Everton unfortunate not to have taken the lead from a corner, Liverpool immediately launched a counter attack. Had Jordan Pickford not gone walkabout when Darwin Núñez crossed the ball in to the box, the Reds may not have scored. But he did and they did and it was a long road back for the Blues from there.
It was the 27th defensive error the Everton stopper has committed since the summer of 2017. Without bothering to check - even stattos have limits - there’s a strong possibility that’s the most of any Premier League player in that time.
After the break, former Liverpool centre-back Conor Coady failed to clear a (deflected) pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cody Gakpo was the grateful recipient at the back post. Two errors, two goals, and only two teams separating the Ev from rock bottom of the league table.
Where the Blues did not get away with their most egregious mistakes, the Reds did. In the fifth minute, Joël Matip failed to deal with a simple ball, though thankfully for Liverpool young Ellis Simms (deputising for the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin) didn’t make the most of the opportunity. His shot was blocked, and that was that.
It was Matip’s third Opta-defined error of the league campaign, giving him a rate of one every 244 minutes. This is the most frequent of any Liverpool player with more than 233 minutes played in any of the last 12 seasons. He’s bottom of a 261 player pile, in other words.
Matip’s misery doesn’t end there. Having made two errors between the start of 2017/18 and the end of 2022, his three this season have occurred in his last three matches. This spell also includes his own goal at Molineux and he made a further blunder in the first FA Cup meeting with Wolves, making four successive appearances in all competitions in which he has erred.
That’s an Opta error every 85 minutes, or every 68 if we tack on the own goal for the sake of argument. Dejan Lovren made five errors in three league games during his first season with Liverpool (2014/15); those are the depths big Joël is currently plumbing.
The former Cameroon international has the shortest remaining contract of the four senior centre-backs at the club, with only one season left after the conclusion of 2022/23. Liverpool have this week been linked with Gonçalo Inácio and António Silva, two young central defenders who currently play in Portugal and have excellent numbers for carrying the ball up field.
While two and two often equals five at best with transfer rumours, it isn’t that big a stretch to imagine them as future Matip replacements. But maybe that time needs to be sooner rather than later.
Other work highlights
Links for all my work from this week can be found here, but here are my three favourites.
A video of Sean Dyche explaining how his Burnley side won at Anfield went viral ahead of the Merseyside derby. Here’s how Liverpool dismantled the strategy on Monday.
Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez are the Premier League’s best duo for creating chances this season, so here’s a closer look at their record.
Liverpool have had a lot of issues this season but Cody Gakpo appears to be solving one or two of them.
Share the things you love
I’m trying to spend more time reading books and less time staring at the 24 hour doom portal that is my phone. Earlier this week I finished ‘Delicacy’ by Katy Wix, the best thing I’ve read in ages.
It’s part memoir, part look at the grief she suffered when her parents and best friend died; not the easiest read at times, obviously. Very rewarding and worth checking out though. Just don’t buy it from Team Bezos, support your local bookshop or library. Over and out for another week.