Liverpool's ill-discipline and sleepy starts

Nicola Pearson, BBC Sport

"They never do things the easy way."

Fans of all teams will have uttered these words at some point, but this season for Liverpool supporters it perhaps rings truer.

Sitting fourth in the Premier League table - three points off top - the Reds have had a positive start to the season, but could it have been better?

With the four red cards picked up before their last match against Brighton, Liverpool became the first side to receive that many in their first seven Premier League games.

Jurgen Klopp's side have spent 192 minutes playing with fewer than 11 players this campaign - more than double that of the next nearest team Wolves on 70 minutes.

They have conceded the fourth most fouls of any team in the league this season and the ill-discipline is a stark contrast from the rest of Klopp's time in charge, with the four red cards as many as in their past 178 league games.

What will leave fans sanguine about the situation is how the team hasn't largely let it hinder results - beating Bournemouth and Newcastle with 10-men and losing to Tottenham with nine men in a match marred by VAR controversy.

It's not just the red cards that have made life difficult for the Reds, but their remarkable regularity of conceding first to go 1-0 down in games.

In fact, since the start of last season, Liverpool have conceded first in 21 of their 46 league games (46%). In this campaign alone they have gone behind in five of their eight league games - only Sheffield United and Luton have done so more.

But much like with the discipline issues, they continue to get results despite giving the opposition a head start.

According to Opta, the Reds have gained 10 points from losing positions in the league this season - more than any other side - and since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, only Crystal Palace (25) have won more Premier League points after going 1-0 down than Liverpool (24).

In their past two matches however, they haven't managed to complete the turnaround and as they head into what is sure to be a fiercely contested Merseyside derby, Klopp will know any player or goal disadvantage could prove costly.

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