Arne Slot had two clear favourites all through Liverpool’s final run of matches, which noticed him use a complete of 24 gamers.
Liverpool began their run of seven video games in 21 days after the September break with 4 successive victories in three completely different competitions, conceding in all however one.
Then got here a steep drop in outcomes with three defeats in succession to depart a cloud hanging over the group whereas home motion is once more placed on pause.
Slot has spoken extra overtly about rotation this season with the larger image in thoughts, plus the necessity to handle minutes for gamers who got here into the season undercooked.
However with that in thoughts, it’s evident who’s first in Slot’s plans and who stays firmly on the periphery, with the whole minutes over the past seven video games additionally indicating who could quickly want a break:
The graph (above) reveals gamers listed from essentially the most to least minutes for the reason that win at Burnley and the six video games that adopted.
Clear divide from prime to backside
Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai (540 minutes) have been the one two to play the complete 90 minutes in each sport, aside from one (Southampton within the Carabao Cup), with Ryan Gravenberch (512) not far behind.
The midfield duo are two of the primary names on the teamsheet, and it’s no shock to see them on the prime of the listing, however it’s regarding whenever you additionally issue of their involvement for his or her international locations – flagging the necessity for relaxation within the video games to come back.
The administration of Alexis Mac Allister (311), Alexander Isak (312) and Conor Bradley (318) can be apparent as Slot continues to supply reminders of their respective disrupted summers.
“I feel I defined this many occasions, is that there are just a few gamers from us that missed pre-season so that you merely can’t play them each single [game],” Slot stated after the defeat at Galatasaray.
“That signifies that it’s not all the time that I need to rotate however generally I must as a result of a participant will not be able to play 3 times 90 minutes in seven or eight days.”
It does, nevertheless, imply the right-back place has considerably brisker legs than elsewhere, ought to Slot look past Szoboszlai, with Bradley easing again in and Jeremie Frimpong (229) nonetheless adjusting.
There has not been many alternatives, nevertheless, for Wataru Endo (94), Joe Gomez (90) and Federico Chiesa (124), regardless of kind from others suggesting they need to have acquired extra alternatives, significantly within the case of the latter two.
Curtis Jones (235), in the meantime, solely performed 37.3 p.c of minutes over the past seven video games and he ought to come back into extra consideration after a two-game absence resulting from an damage sustained in opposition to Arsenal.
Lastly, whereas Isak (312) and Hugo Ekitike (300) are being rotated successfully up prime, Cody Gakpo (406) has performed 64.4 p.c of the minutes on the left wing, with competitors not as fierce for his spot.
With just a few accidents and scares for others rising over the past run of matches, Slot faces additional challenges in preserving his facet recent whereas additionally discovering the consistency wanted for improved performances and outcomes.
