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Szoboszlai’s Conference League Comment Underlines Liverpool’s Finishing and Late-Goal Problems

Szoboszlai warned Liverpool must wake up; finishing inefficiency and late concessions persist. Today

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Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring with his fourth Premier League free kick of the season, the most any Liverpool player has ever amassed in the competition’s history, but the lead did not hold. Richarlison salvaged a 90th-minute equaliser as Liverpool again dropped points late.

“I feel flat,” Szoboszlai told Sky Sports, barely raising his voice above a whisper. “We have to wake up because if we carry on like this, we should be happy with the Conference League.” Asked for an explanation behind this painfully familiar collapse — it was the eighth goal Liverpool have conceded in the 90th minute or later this season — Szoboszlai delivered a concerning response: “I don’t know why this is happening, I honestly don’t know.

“I think in the first half we played very well, we controlled the whole game and they hardly created chances apart from one or two headers. Second half we just didn’t so the same things.”

There was a clear sense of complacency after the opener: between that free kick and Richarlison’s equaliser, Tottenham registered twice as many shots on target as their hosts (six to three). Manager Arne Slot was less focused on attitude and more on finishing. “I think we are completely underperforming in terms of the chances we create and the amount of goals we score,” he said. “That’s quite a surprise if you look at how much attacking quality we have.”

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Slot added: “If you’re not able to score enough, then you have to be able to keep a clean sheet, and that’s something we find really hard this season.”

The numbers underline the problem. “Liverpool have racked up 49 Premier League goals this season from an expected goals (xG) of 50.0, per FotMob.” That one-goal difference which Slot has bemoaned is almost exactly the Premier League average. Ten teams have a larger negative differential between their xG and actual goals scored, while nine different sides have been more efficient than Liverpool this season. Liverpool scored 86 goals from an xG of 83.5 last term, and nine clubs out-performed their predicted goal tally by a larger margin than the Reds.

Opta define a “big chance” as “a situation where a player is reasonably expected to score” and it is these opportunities Liverpool have frequently squandered. The side have converted 32% of their “big chances” this season—only three clubs have a lower rate. Big chances created fell from 150 (1st) in 2024–25 to 81 (6th) this season, while big chances missed moved from 92 (1st) to 55 (4th).

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Opta Forecast: Arsenal Hold Edge as Title Race, Europe and Survival Remain Tight

Opta model favours Arsenal after 3-0 win; title race, Champions League and relegation remain tight.

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Arsenal sit in control of the Premier League title race after a 3–0 win over Fulham, but the margins are slim. The Opta supercomputer projects Arsenal to finish on 82.28 expected points from their current 76, giving them a 79.70% chance of being champions. Manchester City, on 70 points, are forecast at 79.30 expected points with a 20.30% title probability.

That six-point advantage is meaningful, yet fragile. On paper, Arsenal are in an imposing position, but City face two fixtures that matter: away at Everton on Monday and then Brentford on Saturday. If City are perfect in those games they can erase the gap, and by the time Arsenal next play in the Premier League the two clubs would be level on games played.

The Opta model also lays out the race for Champions League football. Manchester United, on 61 points and an expected 67.03, are shown with a 100.00% chance of qualifying and can confirm their place with victory over Liverpool on Sunday. Aston Villa and Liverpool are close: Villa sit on 58 points with 64.15 expected and a 99.01% chance, while Liverpool also have 58 points with 64.00 expected and a 98.63% chance. Brighton are projected to finish with 55.17 expected points from 50 now and sit on a 0.69% chance of Champions League qualification. Bournemouth (49, 54.45, 0.51%), Brentford (51, 54.30, 0.51%) and Chelsea (48, 53.79, 0.60%) are all shown outside the automatic certainty but still within reach of European action.

At the bottom, the simulation makes relegation clear for two clubs. Burnley (20 points, 22.74 expected) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (18 points, 21.02 expected) have 100.00% relegation chances and will be replaced in the Championship by Coventry City and Ipswich Town. The final slot remains undecided. Nottingham Forest (39, 44.12, 0.97%) look relatively safe, while West Ham (36, 39.25, 48.78%) and Tottenham (34, 38.70, 50.22%) are in the precarious positions. Tottenham are currently backed for the drop, although victory over Aston Villa in Sunday’s late game would see Roberto De Zerbi’s side climb out of the relegation zone with four games left to play.

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How Bruno Fernandes can rewrite two Premier League assist records against Liverpool

Fernandes can break two Premier League assist records: season assists (19) and set-piece assists…

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Michael Carrick’s tactical change has given Bruno Fernandes room to operate in the right-side pocket behind the front line, and the results are clear. Carrick restored United’s skipper to the No. 10 role after a period in Ruben Amorim’s two-man midfield, and Fernandes says the move has altered his positioning. “I float a lot in that zone there now with Michael,” Fernandes reflected in an interview with Opta. “He doesn’t want me to just be stuck in the middle, so often asks me to find that pocket [of space].”

That positional freedom has put Fernandes on the cusp of two Premier League landmarks with four matches left in the season. He has 19 assists in 2025–26, level with Mesut Özil on the season charts and one behind the all-time single-season mark of 20 set by Thierry Henry and matched by Kevin De Bruyne in 2019–20. No player in the 34-year history of the Premier League has provided more than 20 assists in a single campaign, and Sunday’s derby with Liverpool presents a high-profile chance to close that gap.

Fernandes showed the shift in focus at Brentford, taking no shots as he concentrated on creating. Eventually, Benjamin Šeško finished one of the five chances Fernandes created, taking the skipper to 19 assists and a single assist behind the record.

If Matheus Cunha recovers from a slight hip issue, he is the likeliest direct beneficiary. As Opta note, Cunha has received 19 open-play chances from Fernandes this season—the most chances any player has been provided by a single teammate in the current Premier League campaign.

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There is also a set-piece subplot. United’s No. 8 has set the former Real Madrid man up for six Premier League goals this season—another division high—five of which have come from set pieces. Fernandes sits on 10 set-piece assists, one shy of Steven Gerrard’s top-flight record of 11. The midfielder has worked on dead balls and admits the demands have changed: “I will tell you that five years ago, I would go to take a corner and just put the ball into the middle of the box and let’s see if someone gets it,” he revealed. “And nowadays I have to hit a spot, so sometimes it’s even harder to get an assist from a set piece than it actually is in open play.”

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A 100-Question Premier League Knowledge Test

One hundred Premier League quiz answers and facts drawn from the top-flight’s trivia and records….

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This collection presents one hundred answers drawn from a broad Premier League quiz that covers origins, records, transfers and obscure trivia. The aim here is not to explain every question but to give a clear sense of the material contained in the original set.

Sample entries and answers from the quiz include: Answer: 1992–93. Answer: First Division. Answer: 20. Answer: Three. Answer: UEFA. Answer: Seven (Arsenal , Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea , Leicester City, Liverpool , Man City , Man Utd). Answer: Wimbledon FC (Dissolved in June 2004). Answer: Sky. Answer: Old Trafford (Manchester United). Answer: Manchester United (15). Answer: James Milner. Answer: 100. Answer: Norwich City (Six). Answer: Alan Shearer (260). Answer: Derby County (11 points, 2007–08). Answer: Arsenal. Answer: Ryan Giggs (162). Answer: Erling Haaland (Manchester City). Answer: Petr Čech (202). Answer: Kenny Dalglish.

The answers further record managerial and transfer details: Answer: Manuel Pellegrini (Chilean, with Manchester City in 2013–14). Answer: Sir Alex Ferguson. Answer: Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City, 2015–16), Antonio Conte (Chelsea, 2016–17), Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, 2009–10), Roberto Mancini (Manchester City, 2011–12). Answer: Arsène Wenger (828). Answer: Igor Tudor. Answer: Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea, 2008–09). Answer: Rob Edwards. Answer: Arne Slot.

Other entries cite stadiums, clubs, fees, and notable incidents: Answer: Southampton. Answer: Alexis Sánchez. Answer: Robinho. Answer: Alexander Isak (Newcastle United to Liverpool, $169 million). Answer: Sol Campbell. Answer: Romelu Lukaku. Answer: Peter Odemwingie. Answer: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid). Answer: Sporting CP. Answer: £50 million ($67 million). Answer: Ali Dia. Answer: Mario Balotelli. Answer: Sadio Mané (for Southampton vs. Aston Villa).

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The list also preserves nicknames and slogans exactly as given: “Fire & Ice”, “God”, “Why Always Me?”. This compilation is a concise companion to the full 100-question set and highlights the range of topics the quiz covers.

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