As well as being a fairly entertaining way to watch a game, PickLive’s Fantasy Football game also provides accurate statistics to assess the matches it covers. As I have mentioned in a previous article, PickLive is a new style of Live Fantasy Football game which allows you to bet on players performing well during matches. There are two game modes, “Big Game,” and “Live Game.” Big Game allows you to pick five players from both teams for the full 90 minutes, giving a total number of points for the players who have scored, provided assists, made successful tackles and passes. The “Live Game” takes part in a 7.5 minute section of the match where you pick 3 players and watch as they accumulate points during the allotted time. You are allowed a limited amount of subs if your player isn’t performing during the Live Game but it is a fine art to picking the right players. Every Live4Liverpool reader can get a free trial here.
The Live Fantasy Game also means though that PickLive are required to collect very accurate statistics to make their game work. Looking at the statistics below for Liverpool’s match against Newcastle United, it shows you quite clearly that the Reds had the better of the game purely in terms of stats despite losing. During the match, the Reds made 100 more passes (in blue) than the Magpies (in red), a significant number suggesting that the Reds dominated possession but failed to make their dominance count.
The fact that they only had five more shots than Newcastle certainly indicates this and suggests that Liverpool are still lacking a cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. Many of those 100 extra passes probably came when the Reds were passing it around the back and in midfield while the Toon Army were more clinical when in possession making more incisive through balls and getting into more threatening areas. As indicated by the graph though, the Reds dominated in terms of passing in the first 45 minutes and even during the second half, the amount of passes was level with Newcastle with the Reds dominating possession early in the second half after Dirk Kuyt scored and when they were chasing the game in the final 10 minutes.
The tackle count (below) was relatively even and doesn’t suggest that the Reds were dominated as the 3-1 scoreline would indicate. Liverpool made eight less tackles during the match either suggesting that the Reds failed to effectively curtail the opposition by breaking up the play enough or it was more down to the fact there was less need to, due to the amount of possession they were afforded by the home side.
In any case, it certainly shows that if Liverpool had kept it tight at the back for the full 90 minutes, they had more than enough about them to win the match. All three goals were preventable and it is frustrating to see when you look at the above stats that if they had just been a little bit more commanding in defensive situations, the Reds could have gotten a victory and begun to turnaround their dreadful away form.
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Liverpool have been lacking a creative spark even when gerrard plays.
its clear we need more pace, not just walcott type pace, because he hardly does or uses his speed to an all be any real effect.
However we need new player thats is clear and i bang on and on untill we get some proper footballers at this once great club!
what we saw last nite is that joe cole at best is a squad player, jovanovic, poulsen, konchesky can all be sold(if nayone that blind would pay for those mugs).
eccleston will be good in a year or 2, needs more games but useful at best at the moment, why did pacheco get around 16 minutes, what is that all about( oh but wait we will ship him out loan, what the point in that when we could have played him more in the europa games!!!!!
all in all i am sure roy is not rtying to make life tuff for us and the club but he is just shocking at best, the players look like they all want to be else where and the fact he didnt play torres when all week he is telling the media and all the world shows he is clearly all over the place.
If or when we dont beat fulham, he is gone anyway, that i no for sure.
but for me its all so easy to solve, you get the crap players of the wage bill and fast, even if we do not get good prices, so what, whats th point in keeping shite at the club?
then you go and progress with a aggressive plan and go and headhunt a mangager who can then bring in players who those players want to play for!!!!
its not like this is hard to work out why the club is down, its easy to see why the players just are not interested, most of the big players are thinking, when are we going to invest in other talent to help out,,, you lot dont agree,,, oh well funny how reina has blasted away and been asking for INVESTMENT,,, is it not easy to see the huge problem at the club,, it is for me