Liverpool will IMPROVE if Arne Slot makes one change

Liverpool are struggling a bit at the moment but Arne Slot can improve the team with one change. Will he make it against Chelsea?

Liverpool lost to Galatasaray in midweek - that's back-to-back defeats now. In truth, it was coming.

The Reds have picked up wins this season but their performances have been shaky. There's been incredible moments and some fantastic football, though it's always come with frustration and a lack of consistency.

Now, the good thing is that despite Liverpool not being anywhere near their best, they're still winning games. The two recent defeats came after six consecutive wins.

It certainly suggests that the potential here for Liverpool is enormous once things click into gear. They've just got to find that gear sharpish.

We think one particular change can bring some sort of improvement. Hopefully, it happens against Chelsea.

Liverpool's left-back

Liverpool have two problems right now. The first is struggling to beat the press and get up the pitch.

The underlying data points to that, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk operating far deeper than usual. Part of this is the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold is no longer with the club - a massive loss when it comes to progressing the ball.

Of course, he’s not the only change at full-back. Milos Kerkez has come straight into the team at Andy Robertson’s expense and we feel that for now that should be reversed.

Robertson is one of the best full-backs around for getting the ball forward. Of players who played at least 900 minutes last season, the only defenders to average more than him were Alexander-Arnold and Manchester City’s pair.

That average was 6.38 per 90 minutes - a number actually down on the 7.45 he managed the season before. This is something Liverpool are lacking.

Kerkez currently averages 4.31 per 90. This is almost exactly what he averaged at Bournemouth last season (4.29).

Now, the difference doesn’t sound like much but when you tally up the total distance of forward passes, a picture is painted. Kerkez averages around 199 metres of progressive distance with his passes - up slightly on the 185m he averaged last season.

Robertson averaged 304m in 2024/25 - and that’s the lowest figure of his Liverpool career. So despite it being the lowest, it was still an extra 100m on Kerkez, or an extra 50 per cent.

The season before, the Scot averaged 382m, so we’re looking at double Kerkez’s 2024/25 season. This makes a massive difference.

But it also points to another reason why Robertson is a better fit. The reason his numbers dropped last season is because he tucked inside more often, rather than constantly overlapping the winger.

It’s something Liverpool lack this season, with Kerkez far less comfortable doing that. He’s a more attack-minded full-back and that’s not proving to be a good fit behind a winger right now.

Getting Robertson in the team should provide a better fit and improve Liverpool’s ability to get forward. Not to mention the benefit of it being one less player trying to gel into the team.

Because that’s the other major issue right now. Liverpool have too many players all trying to get used to the team at once, which in turn leaves every player needing to gel.

Robertson alleviates that problem significantly, even if just for the short-term.

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All data per Fbref.