5 key statistical breakdowns that show the brilliance of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool

The post Rafa Benitez era hasn’t been easy for Liverpool fans by any means. In fact, in the last 12 years, the club has only won one major trophy - The League Cup in 2012.

Despite this trophy drought, there is a reason for optimism in Merseyside with Jurgen Klopp at the helm. He took over an unbalanced squad bereft of confidence and took them to two major cup finals in his first season at the helm without pre-season or a single transfer.

In his first full season, Liverpool qualified for the Champions League for only the second time in 8 years and the team is on course to make it three times in nine years. In addition, Liverpool are almost guaranteed a spot in the quarter-final of the Champions League given their 5-0 lead from the away leg.

After all, this, if you still doubt Jurgen Klopp, then you probably haven’t been paying enough attention.

The following in-depth detailing of Liverpool team or individual statistics shows that the Reds are definitely on the rise!

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#1 Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah is undoubtedly the signing of the season

Very soon, fans will run out of superlatives to describe Mohamed Salah. Everything he touches seems to turn into gold! He has been breaking records for fun since his move to Liverpool and it has become difficult to keep track of them.

Here are some mind-blowing statistics from Salah’s season so far which further emphasizes the quality of signing Klopp makes.

Mohamed Salah has now scored 31 goals for Liverpool, equaling Luis Suarez’s best ever goal tally for Liverpool in a single season. Both players reached the figure in 37 games.

Salah has scored 20 Premier League goals with his left-foot, the most by a player in a single season in the competition's history and he breaks the record of 19 set by Robbie Fowler in 1994/95.

The Egyptian is also the fastest to score 20 Premier League goals for Liverpool, beating the likes of Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Daniel Sturridge.

He has been involved in 31 Premier League goals this season (23 goals and 8 assists), only Lionel Messi (22 goals and 12 assists) and Neymar Jr (20 goals and 12 assists) have been involved in more in Europe’s Top 5 leagues!

Salah’s 23 league goals is only bettered by Harry Kane (24 goals) in Europe's Top 5 leagues. Kane has played over 200 minutes more than Salah.

#2 Goals

Liverpool are now a goalscoring machine

Jurgen Klopp believes in an attacking philosophy and that is evident from the way Liverpool play. The German doesn’t let his team rest on their laurels and demands a lot from them.

The front three of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane is a fearsome one and one of the best in Premier League history.

Since Jurgen Klopp took over, Liverpool have scored 282 goals in 139 games with an average of about 2 goals per game.

Liverpool have scored 103 goals in 40 games this season. Only once in the top flight history have they reached the 100-goal mark in fewer games (2013/14).

Firmino, Salah and Mane have scored 66 goals between them in all competitions, only the trio of Cavani, Neymar and Mbappe (75) have scored more goals in Europe’s Top 5 leagues!

Sadio Mane has equalled his goal tally for last season (13) and it is only February.

#3 Virgil van Dijk

Van Dijk is already proving to be the missing piece in the Liverpool defence

Last summer, when a move for Virgil van Dijk didn’t materialise, many fans wanted Klopp to sign an alternative but Klopp opted against it as he only wanted the Dutchman to reinforce Liverpool’s vulnerable defence.

Van Dijk has been with the club for just two months now, but based on the evidence of his performances so far, it is understandable why Klopp decided to wait until January to sign the player.

Van Dijk has won 25 aerial duels in just four Premier League games for Liverpool.

The Dutchman has won 83.33% of his aerial duels!

Van Dijk has also made 30 clearances in his four Premier League appearances for the Reds

He averages 16.25 defensive actions per 90 minutes! (Tackles, interceptions, blocks, clearances and aerial duels).

#4 Roberto Firmino

Firmino is slowly getting the accolades he deserves

"Mo Salah, world class, but not every day. Sadio Mane, world class, but not every day. Roberto Firmino, world class, pretty much every day," - Jurgen Klopp

The gaffer made these comments recently and if you’ve watched how Firmino plays, you’ll understand why. The Brazilian is probably the most important player in the Liverpool system.

Roberto Firmino has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season, equaling his personal best scoring season of his career, for Hoffenheim in 2013/14.

In all competitions, the Brazilian has 22 goals and 11 assists to his name in 38 games!

Firmino has won 36 tackles and made 14 interceptions in the Premier League

To put things into perspective, Kane, Aguero and Lukaku combined have 18 tackles and 8 interceptions in the league this season!

This once again shows that the Brazilian’s game is a lot more than just goals and assists!

#5 Transfers

Liverpool's owners, FSG, need to back Klopp all the way next summer

Since Klopp took over as manager, 24 players have departed the club (sold or released) and only 12 have joined the side.

The German emphasises on quality over quantity, unlike his predecessor and would rather wait for the right player to be available rather than spending the money elsewhere. This was evident in his pursuit of Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita.

Excluding the possible add-ons, Liverpool have spent £216.9 million on transfers since Klopp took over. (This doesn’t include the fee for Naby Keita).

Excluding add-ons, the Reds have already made £216.8 million from player sales under the German!

Klopp’s net spend is only a mere £0.1 million as of now - compare that to the net spend of the Manchester clubs?

The German is smart with his transfers and already the likes of Sadio Mane (£30m), Mohamed Salah (£35m) and Andy Robertson (£8m) have looked like bargains.