Liverpool’s Milner Confident That More Goals Will Come

Relative to last year, Liverpool aren’t exactly pummeling the opposition into submission this season, though they are still getting pretty good results from their efforts. There’s no shortage of armchair analysis about why this is the case, and a lot of attention has been focused on the fact that the front three aren’t quite converting their chances with the same degree of aplomb.

That criticism emerged again in the wake of yesterday’s 1-1 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, where Liverpool were arguably unlucky not to have at least found the mark once during the first half. The Reds were ultimately able to salvage a point thanks to substitute Daniel Sturridge’s wonder strike, thereby preserving their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign.

One person who isn’t too worried, however, is James Milner. Even in the face of tough Champions League matches against Napoli and in the league against Manchester City coming up.

“The amount of chances we are creating is pleasing and I think you would be more worried if you weren’t creating the chances,” Milner noted to the club’s website. “I’m sure they will start going in a bit easier soon.”

“We knew it would be tough but I think it’s a good point at the end,” he added. “Hopefully we can use this momentum from late in the game, scoring like that, to take into the last two games before the international break.”

“It took a moment of quality. We created other good chances and didn’t take them but that’s the beauty of having as much quality throughout the squad as we do and players like Studge waiting and chomping at the bit to come on. That’s what he does – he scores goals.”

At a fundamental level, it’s hard to argue with Milner’s observation, and it’s true that Liverpool’s ability to create opportunities doesn’t seem to have diminished significantly. That said, against the very best opposition, those chances will be harder to come by, and the need to convert those chances becomes that much more important. Klopp’s men will get to fine tune that goalscoring radar a little more this week.