Are Liverpool better off without Suarez in the team?
Luis Suarez
Liverpool’s start to the 2013/14 Premier League season has been vastly different to last season’s disaster. Seventeen points from their opening eight matches signals a change of fortune for Brendan Rodgers as he aims for Champions League qualification. It was going well as it was, now he has a certain Uruguay international back at his disposal.
Luis Suárez’s return from a 10-match ban has been a timely boost for the Reds. His double against Sunderland and a goal at home to Crystal Palace has signalled the striker’s intent to make up for a summer of intense transfer speculation, most of it instigated by the man himself.
Rodgers’ side started impressively, accumulating 10 points from their opening five matches, with Daniel Sturridge in the form of his life. Things were going well, so some wondered whether Suárez should return to the starting line-up or not.
Daniel Sturridge’s performance this season
Suárez was given the chance to start making amends, firstly at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup, and in the North East, versus Sunderland, as Rodgers decided to start him alongside Sturridge in a front two.
The gamble paid off and Suárez has not looked back since. In the three Premier League games he has featured in this season since his ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic ended, Liverpool have collected seven points, beating both Sunderland and Crystal Palace 3-1 and drawing 2-2 with Newcastle United.
He has played an important role in each match, scoring three goals and assisting one. He also won the penalty that Steven Gerrard dispatched to draw the game level at 1-1.
Not only has Suárez’s presence in Liverpool’s attack improved confidence, it has also seen the side score more goals. In their opening five Premier League games, Liverpool scored just five goals. However, in the three that Suárez has played, they have scored eight – an average of 2.6 goals per game, beating the previous one per game.
Liverpool’s performance while Suarez was banned
Liverpool’s performance since Suarez’s return
Chance creation has also improved, with the Reds creating almost 12 chances per game since Suárez’s return, compared to just over nine per game beforehand.
Liverpool’s chance creation since Suarez’s return
Steven Gerrard leads the way at Liverpool for chance creation, with 16 altogether. Suárez trails him by 10 but in Gerrard’s first five matches, he only created nine chances. If we were to compare his first three games to Suárez’s, Gerrard trails the striker by two so Suárez is creating chances at a higher rate than Liverpool’s leading chance creator, Gerrard. It won’t be long until he overtakes his captain.
Where the chances and goals have increased, average shot accuracy is down by 3% to 53%, which is still not a bad return for an attacking side like Liverpool.
Looking at the figures, it is clear that Liverpool are more dangerous and, therefore, and more threatening attacking force with Suárez in the side.
Since his return, chance creation in and around the penalty area has almost doubled from 17.4% to 34.3%. In fact, 66.7% of chances created by Suárez are in the penalty area. Prior to his return, chances were being created from deeper by Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard.
Suarez’s record in duels this season
The Uruguayan is well-known for shooting so it comes as no surprise that since his return Brendan Rodgers’ side have increased their average number of shots per game.
During the first five league matches of the new season, the Reds hit 49 shots, averaging 9.8 per game, however, since Suárez’s return, 41 shots have been fired at the opposition’s goal in three matches. That’s an average of 13.6 per game – a vast improvement and gives an indication of Suárez’s impact. He himself has had 12 shots. In the same time frame, Daniel Sturridge has had 10 shots. However, the Englishman has been more clinical than Suárez. While they both have scored three goals in as many games, 80% of Sturridge’s shots have hit the target compared to Suárez’s 67%.
Suárez’s impact since his return is clear by looking at the statistics. He has scored three goals, assisted one, won a penalty for another goal, improved chance creation in the final third, the number of shots per game have increased and Liverpool’s threat moving forward is stronger as a result.
Rodgers made some clever signings in the summer transfer market but, judging by the previous three league games, his best bit of business may have been keeping hold of Luis Suárez.