Danny Ings and Gabriel Jesus just found out the hard way about Liverpool advantage

Liverpool’s victory at Villa Park on Tuesday evening was one of their hardest fought of 2021/22. It was the third time the Reds have won a league game after conceding the first goal this season, but after doing so at Anfield against Newcastle and Norwich, this was the first instance on the road.

Their title hopes are relying on help from other clubs, but they would have been all but extinguished entirely had they not returned from the west Midlands with the three points. It was a real team effort with so many players making vital contributions.

The equaliser featured both centre-backs, with Joel Matip getting the vital final touch, and all three forwards were involved in the move which led to Sadio Mane scoring the decisive goal. But the result was secured thanks to an invaluable contribution from another player, and it was far from the first he has made this term.

Less than three minutes after the restart following Liverpool’s second goal, former Red Danny Ings was clean through on goal. While Kopites held their breath, they did so in a state of relative calm. The Villa forward still had to get the better of Alisson Becker and like so many opposing attackers before him, Ings came up short.

He didn’t even get a shot away, thanks to the superb manner in which the Brazilian closed him down. A glance at the stats will merely tell you Ings made an unsuccessful touch, but that hardly tells the full story of what unfolded.

In truth, such situations can be hard to capture with traditional metrics, which is why freelance goalkeeping analyst John Harrison – whose work was recently highlighted by Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football – has created his own model for assessing one-v-one opportunities.

His data shows that