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However, the latter was very heavily involved on this front in the disappointing 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday, with 13 attempts, and the Reds’ crossing statistics highlighted a significant problem.

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Around of quarter of all crosses are successful in terms of reaching a teammate.

In terms of effectiveness, though, the numbers inevitably dwindle once you rate them; 10 of the successful crosses created shots, but none of the chances was classified as ‘big’ by Opta (meaning you’d expect the player to score) and obviously none led to a goal.

Crystal Palace faced 58 crosses from Manchester City in 2020 yet emerged with a 2-2 draw, while Manchester United has attempted at least 50 in games with Burnley and Norwich in the last decade, failing to win either fixture.

Damien Comolli was the first director of football appointed by Fenway Sports Group, and he spent his only summer with the club buying Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson, players who had created a lot of chances via crosses.

When Comolli was dismissed towards the end of 2011/12, the Reds had won none of the eight matches in which they had attempted at least 36 crosses, with the high watermark being 54 against Blackburn in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

And if we look at 2023/24, we find Liverpool firing in 37 crosses at Luton in November, then 35 against United the following month, two matches which both yielded a single point.

Crossing into a packed penalty area is rarely a fruitful strategy and Liverpool saw this against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Liverpool.com says: A team needs to have a variety to its attack but if even Liverpool struggles to win matches when attempting a lot of crosses then it illustrates the flaws in the strategy.
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