‘Slot-age time’ – breaking down Liverpool’s late success

Sure enough, right? After all, there were only ten minutes left, and the Spaniards had survived a number of chances missed before coming up against them in a match where they were second best.

However, Liverpool, under the direction of Arne Slot, have a habit of delivering late goals.

This season, Liverpool have won all five of their competitive games by scoring late winners:

After 91 minutes, that is the standard time for Liverpool’s match-winning moments this season.

In matches that they won by a single goal in 2024-2005, 70 minutes was the typical time they scored the winning goal.

The run of late winners is markedly different from last year, when Liverpool only managed to score four stoppage-time goals in 48 matches in the Premier League and Champions League, with two of those goals coming at Brentford.

No rival Liverpool’s late winners are nearly as prolific as their rivals.

Slot, who took Jurgen Klopp’s place last summer, believes that Liverpool’s success depends largely on self-assurance and fitness.

He said on Wednesday that there will be games where we will go 2-0 up after six minutes, and then we will score a third without using stoppage time to find a late winner.

“We will need one in the last minute and won’t get it,” he added. However, we believe that we will always push. Additionally, how well rested and prepared we are to push one more time is another factor.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson, the late winner’s team was widely regarded as the masters.

Even though his old foe, Arsene Wenger, is not far behind, it shouldn’t surprise that Ferguson holds the record for most winning goals scored after the 81st minute.

In addition, Slot’s position at the top of the table for Premier League teams that have won the most goals in the 90th minute or later has increased.

The Reds have won the last two games of the season under a variety of circumstances.

They comfortably held on to Bournemouth and Atletico, built a two-goal lead, before wasting cheap goals and eventually resolving the issue by putting pressure on themselves.

They also wiped away a two-goal lead at 10-man Newcastle, but their late winner came against the flow of play.

And they struggled to create clear-cut chances against resolute defenses, ultimately coming out on top thanks to set-pieces against Arsenal and Burnley.

Then, there is no formula for how Liverpool are going to achieve these victories.

However, understanding how the goals have developed might provide some insight into why they are happening.

Since Klopp started working on a midfield overhaul for Liverpool in the summer of 2023, the squad has undergone significant changes. The 2022-23 first-team squad’s final season, which included nine players, is still in place.

A small group of senior players, including Salah, Van Dijk, Andy Robertson, and Alisson, have been the focus of the revitalized group.

More than half of Liverpool’s late-goal involvements were made by players who were 32.5 or older, despite the squad’s average age of 26.2.

The average age at which Liverpool’s late goals have been scored or assisted is 28.9, and it would be significantly higher (30.4) if it weren’t for Ngumoha, who is 17 years old.