Why Liverpool are struggling to score in the Premier League

Liverpool head into the weekend stuck in a strange contradiction: they are one of Europe's most ruthless attacks in midweek, yet their Premier League output remains worryingly thin. Seven league matches have produced just nine goals, a figure that pales next to the fifteen they have scored in four cup games. Brighton's visit to Anfield on Sunday puts that gap under the spotlight once again.

Liverpool's Premier League numbers compared to the cups

• Brighton (23) and Manchester City (20) have more than double Liverpool's nine Premier League goals.
• In the Champions League and Carabao Cup, Iraola's side average 3.75 goals per game; in the league, only 1.29.
• Liverpool already have ten different goalscorers this season, proof that they do not lack firepower.
• They have conceded first in four of their seven league games, which makes everything harder.
• No Premier League side has faced low blocks more often than Liverpool, who have encountered one in 28% of their matches.

Free-scoring in Europe, blunt in the Premier League

The sample size is still small and the season is young, but the contrast is hard to ignore. Liverpool's seven league outings have delivered a meagre return for a squad with so much attacking talent. Brighton, by comparison, have been scoring for fun in the English top flight and arrive on Merseyside with 23 goals, more than twice as many as their hosts this weekend.

Across three Champions League games and a Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham, Iraola's side have been the entertainers, celebrating fifteen goals. Even after Mohamed Salah's departure, the team has enough goals in it: ten different players have already found the net this campaign. The question is why that ease simply disappears in the league.

In the Premier League we are not scoring at that level and we are probably defending better too. They are different games and different opponents. I think the key is who you play against, more than the competition itself.

Iraola made that point after the 4-0 win over Villarreal at Anfield, days after putting six past LASK in Austria. The manager admitted he had no simple explanation, though he did offer a clue: the issue lies less with the tournament than with the type of team standing on the other side of the pitch.

Better defending in the league at the cost of goals

The defensive numbers back up his theory. In the Premier League, Liverpool have kept three clean sheets and conceded eight goals, the same number they have shipped in just four Champions League and Carabao Cup matches. The block protects itself more effectively, but the price is a more timid attack.

The problem is made worse because Liverpool have fallen behind in four of those seven league fixtures. Chasing a game against opponents who then sit even deeper turns every match into a test of patience and precision, and this Liverpool side has not yet mastered that trade.

Too many low blocks: the reality Iraola did not expect

In his first press conference as Liverpool boss, Iraola was clear about his preference: he likes facing teams that sit back. His logic was simple. If the opposition parks the bus, his side controls the game, spends more time in the final third and concedes fewer chances. The theory sounded flawless. The reality has proved a little more uncomfortable.

The data validates his instinct but also explains the frustration. Liverpool have faced a low block in 28% of their games, the highest share in the Premier League. Only 15% of their matches have been played against a high press, the lowest in the division. Plenty of teams have decided to hand them the ball and wait, and Liverpool are struggling to pick the lock.

Iraola's style and the challenge of English football

An analyst for a Champions League club explained that European football offers more moments of technical brilliance. The players Liverpool have recruited do not need to adapt to that level because many already operate at the elite end of it, which leads to more chances and more goals. The Premier League is a completely different animal, and Iraola's style thrives on space to attack. That much had already been seen at Bournemouth.

The club hired the Basque coach to deliver a front-foot brand of football. With attacking talent such as Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Bradley Barcola, Cody Gakpo, Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha, the expectations could hardly be higher. The expected goals table says Liverpool should have scored 10.9 in the league, and before this weekend as many as eight teams — including newly promoted Ipswich and a struggling Manchester United — had outscored the Reds.

Brighton and Arsenal: two tests to settle the debate

Some perspective is needed. Arsenal had eleven goals at this stage last season and still went on to win the 2025-26 Premier League title with an average of 1.87 per game. A title challenge does not require a relentless goal rush, but it does demand consistency. And Liverpool are still waiting for their first home league win under Iraola.

The next two league fixtures offer the perfect chance to put things right. Brighton will not be afraid to try and control the game on Sunday, and reigning champions Arsenal will not abandon their own ideas either. These are precisely the opponents that suit Iraola's plan: teams that leave space and allow the game to breathe. If the attack does not click against them, the debate will stop being a quirk of the fixture list.