According to analysis from Nielsen Gracenote, a very reputable metadata research unit, Liverpool's chance of reaching the Premier League silver Cup if they lose their trip to the Etihad this weekend.
If that result comes out, the "Red Brigade" will be 4 points behind Man City and the tournament will still have 7 rounds. Despite such a small gap and a large number of matches, for a team like Man City, when placed in a position to win to decide the season, the success of Pep and his students is almost always greater than any other team in the past 5 years.
According to Nielsen Gracenote's analysis, even if Liverpool overcome their opponents away from home, the chance for Klopp and his team is not too big, only about 68%. If they lose, this figure will be only 14% and if they draw, it will be 37%.
Nielsen Gracenote has another index on the rankings, the Euro Club (provisionally understood as the arrangement of European teams based on strength). According to this index, Man City and Liverpool are the two strongest teams, immediately followed by Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga.
This season, the attacking identity of The Kop has been maintained. Nielsen Gracenote's figures show that Klopp's current attack is the second strongest in the history of the Merseyside team, the strongest being the Suarez-Sturridge-Sterling trio in the 2013-14 season.
The numbers show that Liverpool are currently the team that has had more shots than any of their previous seasons under Klopp. A huge number that can be shocking, The Kop have had a total of 557 shots in the opponent's goal since the beginning of the season, an increase of nearly 30% compared to the previous season at the same time. About two-thirds of those shots were taken by Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and new signing Luis Diaz.
All of the above statistics show that the away team's attack is much stronger than Man City, since the 2016-17 season. Liverpool created more chances and needed fewer shots to score more goals than Man City, which is something that The Kop fans can trust.
8 years ago, Liverpool were very close to winning the championship but at the end of the season it was bitter. Nielsen Gracenote said that in the 2013-14 season, Liverpool averageled 1 goal conceded after 12 shots from opponents, ending 30 matches with 38 goals conceded. This figure has changed completely since Van Dijk arrived in January 2018. Of the 30 matches since the beginning of the season in the last 3 seasons, Liverpool have only conceded 17, 21 and 20 goals. Before Van Dijk's arrival, the "Red Brigade" conceded twice as many goals.
All statistics point to Liverpool's weaknesses and advantages ahead of the most important match of the season. The Kop are facing a big opportunity but also the biggest risk if they face the white flag at the Etihad.
