Surprising stats: Why Liverpool’s Daniel Agger should be a worried man

Daniel Agger

Reports this week suggest that Liverpool defender Daniel Agger could be living on borrowed time in Brendan Rodgers’ first team. With Martin Skrtel appearing his number one centre-back, Rodgers has a long-term choice to make between Agger and Mamadou Sakho that Sakho seems to be winning.

The perilous position in the Liverpool side marks a fall from grace for Agger, who at one stage was linked with big money moves to Manchester City and Barcelona.

This season, Sakho has averaged more clearances and more tackles per 90 minutes played than Agger, while Agger has won more headed duels. The pair are not far apart in terms of clearances, with Agger clearly winning the headed duel contest and Sakho the number of tackles.

In both of these measures, the pair are top of their respective rankings among Liverpool centre backs, while Skrtel blows them both out of the water in terms of clearances (averaging over 11 per 90 minutes played.)

Agger Duels

Standing at 6 ft 3, it comes as little surprise that Agger has proven imperious in the air this season. While his form has dipped, his aerial ability has remained consistent. Not only does he win on raw volume, making more headed duels per 90 minutes than any other Liverpool centre back, he also wins a high percentage of those that he contests, with 72% of his headed duels ending in success.

However, this brings Agger’s skillset close to that of Slovakian man mountain Skrtel. A centre-back partnership of Skrtel plus one looks far more balanced when the 29-year-old is paired with Sakho.

Sakho provides the physical attributes that allow him to win headers and make clearances, but also possesses abilities that other Liverpool centre backs don’t.

He is quicker than the rest of the Liverpool centre-backs, helping him make more tackles per 90 minutes than any other, and has also so far proven to be the most reliable on the ball. His pass accuracy of 92% is higher than any other Liverpool centre back and is made all the more impressive that some of that has come from games at left back – a position in which pass accuracies are expected to be lower.

The summer signing has also shown the quickness of thought and body to comfortably make more interceptions per 90 minutes than any of his contemporaries, adding to the balance of a partnership with the brave, but limited Skrtel.

Agger is a defender of the old school, but does not compare well to Sakho’s ability on the ball. The Dane has an average pass accuracy of 86% this season and has a penchant for a long ball, shown above in his pass map from the derby with Everton where he misplaced 30% of his passes.

Alarmingly, Agger is also painfully out of form. While Sakho and Skrtel appears a more balanced long term pairing, Agger’s form also doesn’t help his claim for a first team place. The matrix above shows Sakho compared to Agger of this season and of last season, demonstrating that the contest would be far closer if Agger were to return to form.

The Dane has averaged defensive errors ten times more frequently this season than last and is also making almost double the number of failed tackles per 90 minutes on the pitch.

His Squawka Performance Score has also tumbled, whilst he is committing more fouls per 90 minutes and making fewer interceptions this season.

Should Agger save his Liverpool career, then he must find something like his best form – soon. His performance score per 90 minutes last season stood up to Sakho’s this season, while the comparison between the two men is far closer when judged on the Agger of old.

While Sakho and Skrtel looks a slightly better balanced partnership, the injury to Sakho has given Agger the chance to nail down his place and make it impossible for Rodgers to drop him. He has yet to do that this season, with time running out if he is to avoid a summer exit.