Arne Slot has made it no secret that Liverpool struggle when their opponents opt to play long balls, and there has been a 25 percent rise in the strategy this season.

“It is definitely that teams have a certain playing style against us; it is a very good strategy to play. We have not found an answer yet,” Slot admitted after the Brentford defeat.

The solution has yet to come to pass and Liverpool will be tested on their return from the break, with the long ball trend only to continue after reaping rewards for the opposition.

In an interesting deep dive into the strategy,The Timeshave found that Liverpool’s opponents have increased their attempted long balls from 59 to 74 per match, a 25 percent rise.

Slot’s success early in his first season, as it was under Jurgen Kloppcame from pressing high and turning the ball over, creating shots and goals.

The long ball, however, mitigates the Reds’ key strength, with their average presses per match reducing by 20.4 percent on last season, with a further 11.9 percent reduction in open-play passes from the opposition.

Liverpool win rate drops dramatically with long balls

The obvious shift in how to nullify Liverpool will continue so long as Slot does not come up with an effective solution, as it is a proven avenue to a result.

AsHamzah Khalique-Loonathas identified, in 17 of the 49 league games under Slot that has seen Liverpool face a long ball pass rate of 20 percent of , the win rate is only 41 percent.

In the other 32 matches when Liverpool face fewer long balls, the win rate rises significantly to 75 percent.

Succinctly put, Liverpool win fewer matches when the opponent favours long passes.

You may then, rightly, think that Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate win a high volume of aerial duels, and they do as the second-best in the league, but it is what comes next that sees Liverpool come unstuck.

The long ball approach has seen Liverpool contest 11 aerial duels per game, a 35.5 percent increase on last season, but Slot’s side are then not winning or positioning themselves for the second phase.

This leaves the defence exposed, and as seen against Man Unitedan early goal is conceded and Liverpool are then left to chase the game, allowing the opposition to sit deeper and attempt long balls.

AsThe Times‘ report identified, Liverpool have spent 22.8 percent of Premier League matches this season playing against a low block – joint-second most – and only 21.5 percent against a high block, the lowest of any top-flight side.

Victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid showed what Liverpool are capable of when the ball is played out from the back, but an answer needs to be found for the long ball, and quickly.