Why Liverpool Are Struggling To Adapt To New Premier League Passing Trend 2025/2026 – Data Analysis

The 2025/2026 Premier League season has revealed a striking tactical shift: the resurgence of the long ball.

After several years defined by controlled possession and methodical build-up play, English clubs have once again embraced a more direct and vertical approach.

Data from the opening nine gameweeks highlights a clear rise in long passes, faster transitions, and notably higher direct speed metrics, signalling a collective move away from sustained sequences.

This data analysis examines the numbers behind this transformation, from long passing trends and accuracy rates to the balance between direct speed and sequence length.

It explores how Premier League teams are redefining efficiency through risk-taking and territorial gains, prioritising penetration over patience.

Crucially, the report also focuses on Liverpool’s current difficulties within this new landscape, as Arne Slot’s side struggle to impose their familiar possession structure against opponents increasingly comfortable with bypassing the press through rapid, direct progression.

Premier League Passing Trends: 2016/2017-2025/2026

After Manchester United’s 2–1 victory over Liverpool, Arne Slot was quick to clarify that his post-match remarks were not meant as criticism.

The Dutch manager simply pointed out an emerging truth: opponents are increasingly relying on long-ball strategies to unsettle the Premier League champions.

Slot noted that, much like United, several sides this season have looked to bypass Liverpool’s high press with direct progression, a method that, in recent weeks, has repeatedly exposed the vulnerabilities of his approach.

This tactical reality aligns with a wider trend across the Premier League.

Over the past decade, the evolution of passing has illustrated a broader transformation that has now reached a decisive inflection point.

Premier League Passing Trends 2016/2017-2025/2026

Between 2016/2017 and 2020/2021, the league recorded a steady rise in the number of passes per game, culminating in a record average of 945.2 during the 2020/2021 season.

That campaign, largely played behind closed doors due to the pandemic, offered players a calmer environment to patiently recycle possession and dominate through structured build-up play.