When did Liverpool last get a Premier League penalty? Jurgen Klopp sees ‘funny’ side of surprising spot-kick drought

• Reds boast plenty of firepower
• No top-flight spot-kick in 2022-23
• Fabinho the last man to score one

WHAT HAPPENED? The Merseyside giants have registered 40 goals through 24 top-flight matches in the 2022-23 campaign, but none of those efforts have come from the spot. That surprising drought stretches all the way back to a 2-0 victory over Watford at Anfield on April 2, 2022 – when Fabinho successfully converted from 12 yards in the 89th minute.

WHAT THEY SAID: Quizzed on the Reds’ odd penalty record heading into a crunch clash with Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, Klopp told reporters: “With all the bad stats, until last week we have this year, until last week or two weeks ago, we still had the second-most possession, shots on goal, crosses. Stats-wise, we are still really up there. We are very often in the opposition box. I have no clue how that can happen but it happened. We won the last game 2-0 (against Wolves) but [there were] so many strange moments. Not penalty-wise, I don’t think there was a penalty but so many strange decisions. We just take it. When you win, you don’t talk about it or think about it.

“Not getting a penalty for that long time is funny. I don’t think we’ve got particularly a lot of penalties during my time here and we’ve had moments where we have pretty much lived in the opposition box. I cannot change that obviously but it’s cool someone else found the stat and we didn’t have to mention it.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Liverpool have not been at their free-scoring best this season, despite still having the likes of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez at their disposal, with much-publicised struggles for consistency seeing them slip out of contention for major honours.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? A top-four finish is now the main target for Liverpool, as they sit sixth in the Premier League table, and victory over old adversaries United would help them to build confidence and momentum heading into a crucial stage of the campaign.