Liverpool Achieve Season High Shots Record

It’s a given, if unfortunately not always a reality, that Liverpool should always be challenging for titles in Europe. On Thursday they have the opportunity to advance past Zenit St Petersburg and on to the next round of the Europa League, but on Sunday against Swansea they achieved a more minuscule accomplishment by taking the most shots on goal in a match across all of Europe this season.

Sunday’s impressive tally of 35 shots pushed them ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s 34 shots against Reading earlier this year.

Shot conversion has been a sore spot amongst fans this season, with Liverpool often being described as wasteful in front of net. Steven Gerrard’s opening goal against Swansea came after an excessive 22 shots, but the remaining four goals of the match saw Liverpool’s shot conversion ratio improve dramatically over the additional 13 shots taken.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Swansea has the dubious honour of being the club to concede the most shots in three of the top five places in the rankings.

Statistical honours may be the only ones Liverpool can realistically challenge for this season. While topping the shots table across all of Europe may seem like a stat only the most optimistic, straw grasping fan might get excited about, both Luis Suarez’s and Steven Gerrard’s statistics could see the club earn further honours this year, with the striker challenging Robin van Persie for the Golden Boot and the club's captain currently in a three-way-tie with Lukas Podolski and Juan Mata for most assists in the league.

Below are the top ten matches in Europe with the most shots taken, courtesy of the Liverpool Echo:

1. 35 — Liverpool (v Swansea)
2. 34 — Spurs (v Reading)
3. 32 — Newcastle (v Swansea)
4. 31 — Everton (v Swansea)
5. 31 — Roma (v Cagliari)
6. 30 — Juventus (v Cagliari)
7. 30 — Paris St Germain (v Brest)
8. 30 — Bayer Leverkusen (v Borussia Mönchengladbach)
9. 30 — Juventus (v Atalanta)
10. 29 — Liverpool (v Sunderland)