Liverpool is one of Europe’s top sprinting sides as newly shared data has revealed. Its Premier League title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City cannot keep up.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has uttered many memorable soundbites during his career. He was dishing out quotable quips from day one in England.
People thinking back to his first press conference will inevitably remember Klopp describing himself as ‘the normal one.’ English football was still in thrall to self-appointed ‘special one’ José Mourinho at that point, so the German’s words made for an easy headline.
But he said something else which has proven far more relevant to the success he and Liverpool have enjoyed in the last nine years. Klopp acknowledged that other clubs had more money than his new one, but that his side would “drag them down to our level and kill them”. They have been doing this through their physicality ever since and some recently released data has highlighted the Reds’ key men in one aspect of this in 2023/24.
Physical statistics from the Premier League are not widely shared. We can study data for many aspects of what players do on a pitch but information on the ground they cover or how quickly they do so largely remain under lock and key.
It would be interesting to review, even if it proves nothing. Watch Manchester United every week and you’ll see forwards and midfielders sprinting from end to end thanks to the cavernous void they allow in the center of the pitch, just as happened on Sunday. It doesn’t mean the team is playing well.
Even so, CIES Football Observatory has shared some team and player data for the top 10 leagues in Europe and it paints Klopp’s squad in a positive light. With a sprint defined as running at over 25 kilometers per hour, Liverpool averages the third most distance per 90 minutes at this speed, at 235.8 meters per player per game, behind Bournemouth (248.9) and Tottenham (248.5). While this is only one of many factors in the title race, Arsenal and Manchester City are nowhere to be seen.
CIES also posted top five players by position and there are three Reds who made the cut. Joint-third in the center forward rankings is Darwin Núñez (at 405m per 90), just ahead of another widely maligned striker, Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson. Heung-min Son tops the list, no mean feat when almost 32 years old.
But it’s in central midfield where Liverpool is most dominant. Top of the pile from 10 big leagues is Harvey Elliott, with 316m per 90. It is frequently noted how well he performs when coming off the bench and this illustrates the energy level he brings to the side.
Núñez has played over twice as many minutes as Elliott in the league (albeit they are only a little 400 apart in all competitions), so has realistically put in the greater shift. Equally, it is inevitable that a forward would sprint more than a midfielder, so Liverpool’s young number 19 deserves credit for leading his positional standings.
Just behind Elliott in the midfield chart, with 306m per 90, is Dominik Szoboszlai. It is no surprise the Hungarian has added pace to the Reds’ midfield since joining; the Bundesliga is happy to share physical data and the former RB Leipzig man ranked seventh for total sprints in Germany last season.
It would be interesting to see how Liverpool fared if the trio started regularly together. It has only occurred three times in all competitions and just twice in the league: the 2-2 draw at Brighton and the home match with City.
It may be that Klopp’s successor reaps greater physical benefit from Elliott, Núñez and Szoboszlai, even though it is he who has helped instill their fierce work rate. But will the team’s sprinting edge allow Liverpool to drag Arsenal and City down below them in the battle for the title?
In a desperately tight title race, being able to sprint with greater intensity can be no bad thing, even if it is no guarantee of success and saving energy could also be a bonus. Klopp can be proud of the team he will bestow Liverpool’s next manager, as whoever he is, he will inherit some of the hardest-working, fastest-sprinting players around.
