How Adam Lallana has progressed significantly this season and how Liverpool may operate without him

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Lallana has been in excellent form recently, although a groin injury picked up against Swansea may rule him out for a couple of games.

One of the success stories for Liverpool so far this season has been how Adam Lallana has seemingly kicked on in a deeper, more central midfield role.

He seems to be having more of an effect on the side going forward, while his goal-scoring output steadily improved towards the end of last season going into this term, as illustrated in this piece from last month.

Lallana’s role in the midfield three has been crucial this season. It seems to have got the best out of him and has aided Liverpool in their opening six and a bit games of the season prior to the groin injury he picked up in the win over Swansea City.

Here are his stats from the Premier League this season:

And the stats from his previous two seasons for the Reds in the Premier League:

The striking comparison is how Lallana’s goal output and scoring attempts have improved, while playing in a more central role as opposed to the time when he operated predominantly on the flanks, or under Brendan Rodgers off the striker when the Reds were set up to play with a back three.

Lallana has already scored a third of the goals in his last seven appearances than in his previous 57 league outings, a clear marker that his scoring has improved, and averaging more shots per game shows he is having more of an influence in the final third under Klopp.

His increase in passing accuracy could have a great deal to do with operating more centrally and the amount of duels he is winning per game is at a similar level, although slightly lower at the start of this season.

But there is a chance that he could miss out in the forthcoming game against Manchester United in the Premier League given the groin injury he limped off with against Swansea.

The second half of that game saw Liverpool adapt pretty well with Philippe Coutinho playing the role well, with a more natural striker in Daniel Sturridge predominantly playing through the middle – while Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino operate off the flanks.

The difference between the two is that Coutinho probably offers Liverpool some more ‘fireworks’ from that role – he’s a little more explosive while Lallana has given the Reds some control, especially when in possession. His role in a long passing move against Chelsea that resulted in Divock Origi having a headed effort saved by Thibaut Courtois is a notable example.

Lallana’s stock has grown substantially over the past few months and if fit it’s hard to see how he doesn’t play every week at the moment. Liverpool have good options without him, but it’s testament to his recent form that at least one big name player has been left on the bench for nearly every match so far this season.