Theo Walcott was left shellshocked upon learning of a damning statistic which goes a long way to explaining why Liverpool have faltered in recent games.

Having scored 24 goals in their seven Premier League fixtures in January and February, averaging 3.42 per game, the six top-flight matches they’ve played since then have seen then net only nine times, with their average dropping to 1.5 per 90 minutes.

On Monday night’s edition of Premier League Productions (15 April, 23:10), Steve Bower drew attention to a statistic which showed that Jurgen Klopp’s side have the third-worst shot conversion rate in the division since the beginning of March with a paltry 6%, superior only to Brighton (3.4%) and Everton (5.3%).

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Upon hearing that fact, Walcott reacted: “We are talking about Liverpool Football Club. Players who have graced the field like Michael Owen and Jari Litmanen, who was a fantastic finisher back in the day. That’s how old I am as well!

“It’s not a good stat for Liverpool to have…they have players who can score goals, but when it doesn’t happen, they need to be a bit more focused on those situations and actually really start to put people to the sword here. They are going for the title. They need to up those stats, that’s for sure.”

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A closer look at Liverpool’s six Premier League matches (via FBref) exposes some uncomfortable truths:

• Nottingham Forest (A): 22 shots, 1 goal
• Manchester City (H): 18 shots, 1 goal
• Brighton (H): 30 shots, 2 goals
• Sheffield United (H): 29 shots, 3 goals
• Manchester United (A): 27 shots, 2 goals
• Crystal Palace (H): 21 shots, 0 goals

In those half-dozen games, Liverpool have scored nine times from 147 shots, with a match average of 1.5 goals from 24.5 attempts. To put another way, it takes us 16 shots to score one goal since the beginning of March.

Incredibly, one of the above matches that we won (away to Forest) witnessed the Reds recording just one shot on target all afternoon, namely the 99th-minute winner from Darwin Nunez.

Scoring from the only effort on target is the definition of clinical, but one shot on goal out of 22 (4.5%) is embarrassing from a team with aspirations of winning the Premier League.

Liverpool quickly need to get back to the efficiency that they showed during the winter, when over two games against Bournemouth and Brentford they scored eight times from 29 shots in total (FBref). What we wouldn’t give for such a level of ruthlessness over the six remaining top-flight games this season.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Niko Kovac rumours, what if Amorim stays at Sporting? Summer contract calls, Crystal Palace review and much more!

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Theo Walcott grudgingly admitted he would have wanted a penalty had he been on the pitch against Martin Odegaard for the midfielder’s apparent handball offence.

The Norwegian international made contact with the ball in a manner in which the team at VAR deemed to be accidental as he slipped.

However, a second review of the moment by Sky Sports’ commentators appeared to show the midfielder deliberately moving his hand toward the ball.

We’re not quite sure how Arsenal have gotten away with this one!

You can catch the clip below, courtesy of @SkySportsPL:

"I'm amazed that one wasn't given"

Jamie Redknapp & Theo Walcott discuss Liverpool's potential penalty against Arsenal. pic.twitter.com/QgjTVLKSWn

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 23, 2023

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Liverpool fans always love to see one of our own on the pitch and it seems that one childhood fan of the club nearly joined the Reds from Arsenal, sharing the details in a recent interview.

Speaking with Sky Sports, Theo Walcott was asked if he nearly joined another club in his career and said: “Yeah, Liverpool. I am a Liverpool fan, or was… Liverpool [interest] was many, many years ago – would have been about 2014…

“It was kind of close, very interesting but just wasn’t quite right for me at the time. It was fairly close but nobody would have known about it”.

READ MORE: (Video) Liverpool fans will be surprised to hear who Mac Allister thinks is the strongest at Anfield

It’s certainly a surprise to hear how close the 34-year-old was to becoming a Red and it would have been interesting to see how he would have impacted our side in that era.

Seeing as the former Arsenal winger went on to play for Everton too, he could have gone on to be one of the few men to have played for both clubs but it wasn’t to be for the boyhood Red.

You can hear Walcott’s comments on Liverpool (from 3:47) via Sky Sports Premier League on YouTube:

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The post (Video) 34-year-old ex-Arsenal man reveals he was ‘close’ to joining Liverpool; supported the Reds as a child appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Everton forward Theo Walcott says he hopes the Blues can finish in the Champions League places this season.

We’re not sure who he thinks the Toffees can displace but this really is a new level of delusion. There are at least six teams better than Everton – with us, Chelsea and Manchester City, in particular, miles above them, before you get onto Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.

According to Goal.com, he said: “Me personally, I’m hoping for a top-four finish, I really am. I’ve set my goals really high. I’m a positive guy so I genuinely think we’re going in the right direction.”

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Having finished 14 points off Arsenal in sixth last season, Walcott did admit that aiming for the Europa League is more achievable for Everton, but even that seems a stretch.

He added: “You need to be realistic as well and think maybe that’s a bit too far-fetched, but I think sixth is reachable. We’re not far off, I really don’t think we are.”

Normally we would say wait and see if this comes true – but in this case, it’s categorically not happening. They certainly won’t be finishing above us.

The post Theo Walcott’s hopes for the season are never going to happen appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

In hindsight, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott should have both left Arsenal and Arsene Wenger years ago.

The Frenchman signed both when they were rated as two of the best teenagers in world football, but under his guidance, neither reached his potential.

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Ox is developing beautifully under Jurgen Klopp and is heading into the Merseyside Derby on the back of a wonderful goalscoring performance in the Champions League quarterfinal with Manchester City.

Walcott hasn’t hit Ox’s heights, but in fairness, he’s an attacker playing under Sam Allardyce – a fairly gruesome task.

Both have subtly suggested that the fans of both Liverpool and Everton are better than the ones they played in front of at the Emirates.

The pair got immense criticism from Arsenal supporters and although they’ve not said explicitly, the fact they’ve openly lauded the difference their new respective fanbases speaks volumes.

“It’s an amazing place to play, it was stable, you build relationships, but I felt I had to do it for football reasons to try and better myself,”  Oxlade-Chamberlain told Sky Sports.

“But I’ve loved every minute so far. It was always horrible coming here (Anfield) as an opposition player but the crowd gives you goosebumps. To hear them singing for you is unbelievable.”

Walcott agrees:

“The first time walking about at Goodison Park… you can’t explain it. Then, when I scored my first goal, the emotion came out. It was about enjoying my football again,” he said. 

Everton’s 29-year-old will likely play at Goodison today, but there’s no guarantee Ox will, with Klopp potentially giving the 24-year-old a rest before the much more important Champions League clash on Tuesday.

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Theo Walcott will not join us this summer, instead preferring to stay and fight for his place at Arsenal.

According to the Daily Star, the 27-year-old faces an uncertain future in North London after falling down the pecking order last term.

He only made 15 league starts for the Gunners and although he did manage to bag five goals, only two of those came after Christmas; one when his side demolished Watford 4-0 in April and one in their dramatic 2-1 win over eventual champions Leicester in February.

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The Star claim that we were considering launching a £25 million raid last week, but that noises coming out of the Walcott camp have deterred us.

Apparently, he wants to give himself one more season at the Emirates and see if he can once again become a central pillar of Arsene Wenger’s starting eleven.

It is reported that if we do decide make a move, we’ll face stiff competition from Man City.

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What’s very obvious is that Liverpool are looking for an attacking midfield/wing addition this summer.

Our priority was Mario Gotze, although the German decided to stay at Bayern Munich, and we’ve also checked out Southampton’s Sadio Mane. Both of who can play on the right wing, where we lack natural pace and width, with Jordon Ibe so far failing to live up to expectations.

The Telegraph’s Matt Law claimed last night that we had actually turned our attentions to Newcastle’s Andros Townsend, who has a £10.5m release clause having been relegated last term.

In his report though, he claims Jurgen Klopp has personally run the rule over Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, Schalke’s Leroy Sane and Saints star Mane…

Walcott’s stock has fallen after an uninspiring season with Arsenal, which meant Roy Hodgson left him out of England’s Euro 2016 squad. Sane is ridiculously talented but would come with a meteoric price-tag, due to the fact Manchester City are also very interested. Like Sane, Mane would be expensive too – around £30m Law reckons.

For us, Sane would be the most exciting potential transfer. His ceiling for improvement is easily the highest, while Walcott’s not going to get significantly better and Mane’s inconsistency and work-rate would bother us.

Saying that, we’d likely have both over Townsend – one of the more uninspiring transfer links of the summer…

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Jurgen Klopp looks set for a busy summer transfer window, and the latest player being linked with a Liverpool switch is Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, as reported by The Evening Standard.

The speedster has been heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates ahead of the new season, with his game time seriously limited throughout the 2015/16 campaign. He was fully fit for most of the season, but failed to impress when given a chance, and consequently found himself benched in favour of the young Alex Iwobi.

The player himself apparently wants to stay (via ESPN), but with Arsenal potentially set to undergo a bit of a squad revolution of their own, he may be sold.

Regardless of his situation at Arsenal, you have to say that the link to Liverpool is pretty tenuous. Not only has Walcott been in incredibly poor form recently, but £25m is an absolute fortune for a player of his quality. The 27-year-old isn’t worth anywhere near that much at the moment, as he hasn’t even looked close to realising the potential he showed as a teenager.

He also doesn’t seem like the type of player who would fit particularly well into Jurgen Klopp’s ideology, as he’s not all that hard working and doesn’t press the ball particularly well.

We definitely need some new blood in the wide areas, as currently we arguably don’t have the right players to best utilise Klopp’s tactics. Walcott almost certainly isn’t the player we need though, and if we were to spend £25m on him this summer then it’s hard to see the majority of fans being happy about it.

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We have recently secured the signature of James Milner on a free transfer, and have seen first hand the benefit of monitoring a player’s contract situation closely. There are a number of players coming to the end of their current contracts at their respective clubs, and we may well be able to pick up some more bargains – either now or in the future.

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Here are the eight best players with just a year left on their current contracts:

8) Rafinha

The youngest of the Alcantara brothers, Rafinha currently plays for Barcelona as an attacking midfielder. The youngster is incredibly talented, but arguably doesn’t quite fit into the Barcelona style of play. He looks like he has an incredibly bright future ahead of him, but it doesn’t look certain to be at the Nou Camp.

7) Alex Sandro

A highly rated left-back, the Brazilian has been excellent since making the switch to FC Porto. The club have mysteriously let him get into the final year of his contract, and he could prove an excellent signing.

He has been linked with a move to the Premier League in the past (via The Telegraph), and for the right price we shouldn’t overlook him.

The post The best eight players with one year left on their contract – with Arsenal star & Man United target appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

The Liverpool Echo put it best yesterday when they referenced the ‘failed’ signing of Gaston Ramirez in 2012. We were linked with the Uruguayan prodigy almost every single week, only for him to eventually join Southampton.

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Almost every summer, there is a saga that runs and runs for almost no reason – the papers pick up on the faintest sniff of interest and just keep revamping the same story. Or, if you want to be completely cynical, they just completely make it up.

In the list below, we count down five of the most prominent rumours that have been surrounding Liverpool over the last few weeks and discuss whether or not we think there is any truth in them whatsoever.

5) Carlos Tevez

What have the papers been saying: The Telegraph – a very reputable source for such garbage – have claimed that the Argentine striker will decide on a potential move on Wednesday. That’s despite the former Manchester United and Manchester City man being in talks with Atletico Madrid, according to BBC Sport. They believe that a deal could be done for as little as £10m, with Juve eager to sell now rather than lose Tevez on a free next summer.

Could it actually happen: It’s plausible, although there is a lot that could go wrong. He proved at City that he, like Mario Balotelli, is capable of causing unnecessary drama off the field, something we certainly don’t need more of. His goal record in Italy is good but there are questions marks over whether he’d be able to adapt to a return to the Premier League. However, as marquee strikers go, he’s affordable and available and that might be enough for us.

The post Ranking five frustrating Liverpool transfer rumours that refuse to go away – with Tevez & Kovacic latest appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

The Liverpool Echo conducted a poll recently in which they asked a number of fans to select which player they’d most like us to sign this summer…

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Below are the twenty most common names selected. Most of them are naturally very ambitious, but there’s certainly a real possibility we could secure one or two of these.

We’ve added our own thoughts as to the likelihood of these transfers, and how suitable a Liverpool player they’d be should we complete a signing…

Could we snare any of these, Reds?

1) Gonzalo Higuain – Napoli

The Metro reckon Higuain is on the verge of an Arsenal move, which is a shame if true – because he’d be welcomed with open arms at Anfield. He’s clinical, proven and experienced – and in the prime of his striking career.

2) Nathaniel Clyne – Southampton

Clyne’s signing is definitely a high possibility. We need a right-back, and he’d surely jump at the chance of moving to a bigger club. The Manchester Evening News claim United are also interested, though.

3) Alexandre Lacazette – Lyon

The French striker was mentioned by 40% of voters, making him the fans’ most wanted target. Lacazette would be a jaw-dropping signing, as his goals in 2014/15 proves, but if he’s leaving Lyon, it’ll be for Champions League football, his club president confirmed (via Metro).

4) Karim Benzema – Real Madrid

A pure impossibility. Without Champions League football, there’s now way the Frenchman would sign.

The post Liverpool’s top 20 targets named – Colombian forwards & Croat dynamo feature appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Danny Ings has all but completed his Anfield switch, but most fans consider the 22-year-old as a squad option rather than the man to score the goals we desperately lacked in 2014/15…

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Ings will only cost us a compensatory fee, while our other summer acquisition James Milner signed on a Bosman – meaning we still have the entirety of our transfer budget to spend…

What this is, we don’t know, but it’s surely enough to bring in at least one big name in Brendan Rodgers’ search to finally go some way in replacing Luis Suarez…

These five have all been linked, but which would you rather, and are any of these actually a possibility?

Carlos Tevez – Juventus

The Argentine is a mercenary, and we won’t get years of loyal service from him, but just like Luis Suarez did – his work-rate and ferocious quality will make up for it. Italian publication Tuttomercato claim that we’re in pole position for the former Manchester United and City forward, who narrowly missed out on Champions League glory with Juventus on Saturday. We can’t really comprehend why they’d sell, but think if The Old Lady were prepared to, we’d be mad not to do everything we can to bring him to Anfield. Tevez is one of the most effective strikers in European football, still.

The post The five ‘marquee’ strikers linked to Liverpool, with fans crying out for a huge name appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Raheem Sterling has refused to sign a new contract, and consequently could be on his way out the Anfield door this summer. He has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal, but we will allegedly only sanction the switch if Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott move in the other direction, according to ESPN.

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It would be a shame to see Sterling leave, but there is no point in forcing a player to stay when he doesn’t love the club and doesn’t want to be here. Walcott has shown in recent weeks the quality he possesses, and we could end up getting the better side of the deal.

It isn’t always immediately clear who is getting the raw end of a swap deal, but more often than not it quickly becomes apparent.

With that in mind, here are eight of the biggest swap deals in football, plus the winners and losers from the exchanges:

Benfica – David Luiz for Nemanja Matic – Chelsea

Back in 2011, Chelsea brought Brazilian’s loose cannon defender David Luiz to Stamford Bridge from Benfica. The deal coast them around £21m, with Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic included as well.

Benfica certainly fared better in this deal, as they sold Matic back to Chelsea for £21m three years later.

Chelsea didn’t do too badly though, as they somehow managed to offload Luiz to PSG for £50m – a prime example of what happens when you have more money than sense.

Arsenal – Ashley Cole for William Gallas – Chelsea

The Gunners were left kicking themselves after letting one of football’s best left-backs join Chelsea, especially as all they got in return was £5m and an ageing William Gallas.

Cole went on to be a rock in the Chelsea defence, while Gallas proved a liability and a disruptive presence in the Arsenal dressing room.

The post Biggest swap deals ever, with Sterling for Walcott & Gibbs exchange with Arsenal touted appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

News broke today (via ESPN) that Liverpool WILL allow Arsenal to sign Raheem Sterling this summer… Providing they give us Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs in return!

As you can expect – it split the opinion of supporters enormously…

Which side of the debate do you stand? Good deal, or not?

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Well up for the swap deal for Walcott and Gibbs for sterling. Arsenal would have won league this year and maybe last year if Walcott was fit

— Harvey Williams (@hwilliams36) June 2, 2015

Wait, so we would actually consider Walcott & Gibbs for Sterling? Hahahahaha, you absolute fools. Clueless. @LFC — Rise Of The Kop (@RiseOfTheKop) June 2, 2015

Liverpool will only sell Sterling to Arsenal if Gibbs & Walcott are involved in the deal, @espn claim. Not sure Wenger will agree to that!

— Sam (@samuelJayC) June 2, 2015

Gibbs and Walcott plus cash for Sterling would be a decent deal. — Steven Gerrard (@LFCChris_) June 2, 2015

Considering Sterling wants leave for London and that wont change, Walcott and Gibbs for Raheem would be a decent deal.

— Indigo (@IndigoLFC) June 2, 2015

I’d take Sterling for Walcott and Gibbs any day of the week. — Liverpool Exposé (@LFCExpose) June 2, 2015

Walcott, Gibbs and £30m for Sterling @Arsenal, we’ll even wrap him up nicely for you

— Jeremy (@InanimateDanny) June 2, 2015

Oh god it gets worse, come back on twitter and the next rumour is Gibbs and Walcott for Sterling — . (@Coppin_LFC) June 2, 2015

@sjam29 rumour today we’d do Sterling for Walcott and Gibbs. if we got about £10m as well I’d probably do that.

— shitebag (@shitebag_) June 2, 2015

I don’t like sterling but Walcott and Gibbs fuck off — RED 4 LIFE (@Red4Life6) June 2, 2015

I’d 100% take Walcott and Gibbs for sterling

— seb (@Seb_Crane) June 2, 2015

The post Sterling for Walcott & Gibbs – Liverpool fans heatedly debate swap rumour appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

This seems like a huge development in the Raheem Sterling transfer saga…

ESPN are exclusively reporting that Liverpool insiders have alerted them that the club will be prepared to offload the unhappy Englishman to Arsenal, providing we get Theo Walcott and left-back Kieran Gibbs in return…

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Sterling is flatly refusing to sign an extension on his contract which has two years to run, with his agent Aidy Ward recently claiming that the 20-year-old wouldn’t put pen to paper on a deal worth £900k-per-week (via Evening Standard).

ESPN recognise that we’ve repeatedly said the winger is not for sale under any circumstances, but are now attempting to manoeuvre a deal which actually benefits us.

Theo Walcott could be considered a direct replacement for Sterling, but also as a central striker option – with the 26-year-old scoring four goals in the final two Arsenal games of the season – one of which was the FA Cup Final thrashing of Aston Villa.

According to the report – we’ve already approached Arsenal about the sensational swap deal, but it’s not known whether it will suit the Gunners, or whether Arsene Wenger will bite.

No added fees are mentioned in the report.

Should we try and really milk Arsenal, asking for cash as well…? And is Gibbs a big improvement on current left-back Alberto Moreno?

This story begs a lot of questions, Reds.

Is it smart business, though?

The post Liverpool tell Arsenal they can have Sterling for Walcott & defender, source leaks to ESPN appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.