After watching us this season, one observation is our lack of cutting edge in attack.
We find it difficult to convert dominance to goals. At least not to the same level as Man City.
The great positive: We re carving open quite decent openings. It's not sterile possession, but actually quite promising situations with overloads etc that we are consistently creating.
But our shots seem to get blocked more than other teams (to my biased eyes, at least) and we seem to lack true ruthlessness in front of goal.
Even Salah, our best assassin, has many moments like this in a match.
Its a testament to our perseverance and quality that we keep at it, until the goal comes and have a strong enough defense to keep the opposing chances at a minimum.
Another puzzling thing: Our counter attacks are almost never as lethal as they used to be a few seasons ago. The word used then was "devastating".
Now, its more "....and Liverpool have a corner" or "Pass overhit/underhit and the opposing defense have a chance to get back".
So how exactly do we fix
a. Our shooting efficiency ?
b. Our counter attacking effectiveness?
Theories
a. We need to shoot more often and much earlier.
Our shots are often telegraphed. We try to set ourselves up properly but most defenders are now able to put in a block. More blocks, more confidence and the pattern is set for the game.
If we shoot early, even at the expense of accuracy or power, I would hazard we would see more goals.
Especially random ones: Through the keeper/defenders legs , scuffed shots that trickle home, deflections and ricochets that "luckily" go in, etc.
b. On counters, I feel we need to sometimes allow players to be more selfish: Just run at the opposition 1:1 and beat the last man. We may lose the ball often, but the rewards outweigh the risks. Our 3-2 type overloads should be resulting in a lot more goals, but our "passing too soon" is not totally working right now. In counter attacking situations, half the battle might be won if the defender craps his pants at the fast skillful attacker running at him, and can't second guess if pass or dribble or shot is coming up.
Resulting in committing too early to the (sometimes) wrong choice.
I hope we can fix our cutting edge. If we do, then we will be there or thereabouts in number 1 or 2 position in the league.
If we dont, then our defense and midfield will carry us to Top 4, but a few (frustrating) draws/losses are inevitable in matches we dominate but fail to score (enough) in.