Danny Murphy pinpoints bigger Liverpool concern than being out-run by opponents

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Ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy is worried by one aspect when watching his former club play in the Premier League this seasonDanny Murphy is not concerned by the fact that Liverpool are getting consistently out-run by their opponents in the Premier League.But the 2001 cup-winning hero is worried by the reason he believes the Reds are unable to cover enough ground in their matches.Liverpool stormed to the title in head coach Arne Slot's debut season in charge and after five straight wins to start the 2025-26 campaign, looked well set to defend their crown.But a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on September 27 set in motion a run of results that effectively ended their hopes of finishing top for the second year running.While the Reds' form has improved since that sequence of nine defeats in 12 games in all competitions, stretching from the last-gasp loss at Selhurst Park to the 4-1 humbling by PSV in the Champions League at Anfield, they headed into the international break on the back of three winless matches in the Premier League.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageAfter a 2-1 defeat at basement boys Wolves, Slot's side had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to crisis club Tottenham Hotspur before going down 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion.Those results have left Liverpool 21 points behind leaders Arsenal and desperately clinging on to fifth place, which is likely to be the final Champions League qualification spot, with Merseyside rivals Everton just three points behind in eighth.The reasons for the Reds' struggles in the Premier League are myriad and continue to be pored over by supporters and pundits.And, after the loss to Brighton, it was highlighted that it was the 27th time in 31 games that the defending champions had covered less ground than the side they were facing.That includes their previous league fixture, against Tottenham, who covered 8.67km more as they fought back to earn a share of the spoils at Anfield the week before.Murphy isn't worried by those statistics, particularly.

"I think running stats are useful for tracking individual or team levels over a period of 10 to 12 games, as that gives a better indicator."A team could win 4-0 and still run less than their opponents, there are so many caveats."I'm not completely against data, that would be ridiculous, (but) high intensity is a better measure than distance covered. That's probably a better indicator for me."The fact that Tottenham might run more than Liverpool in their match because they don't have the ball and are trying to defend and dig in wouldn't concern me at all.

However, the actual physicality of Liverpool late in games is a concern."Running stats might show you've covered a lot of ground, but you might not be doing it in the right way, at the right time, or with the right intensity."For Liverpool in the latter stages of games, there is a disorganisation that creates big spaces."The players are running, but they can't cover the ground because the distances are too big due to poor team organisation."The Reds' 430-mile round trip to Brighton came around 62 hours after they dismantled Galatasaray 4-0 in the Champions League at Anfield to reach the quarter-finals.Slot spoke before the match about the lack of available training time to prepare for the clash with the Seagulls and afterwards left-back Milos Kerkez admitted tiredness was a factor.“I think they definitely played well and had more chances," said Kerkez, who had equalised at the Amex Stadium. We know where we are in the standings in the Premier League, and we know we have to push."Of course, it’s maybe a bit of an advantage (to Brighton), but still, very disappointed that we couldn’t win."Liverpool return to action on Saturday when they head to Manchester City for a FA Cup quarter-final (12.45pm kick-off).They then head to holders Paris Saint-Germain for their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday, April 8 (pm kick-off) before hosting Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, April 11 (5.30pm kick-off).