Liverpool FC running out of steam - the goals don't lie

I'll tell you in a minute, but here are the total goals for and against, and when they were scored, visualised thanks to Many Eyes.

If you click through, you can dig further into the data by looking at the data for home and away games too.

A few things jumped out at me.

The first was that while our home scoring record is good (15 goals for, six against) our away goals record is a mirror image of that - just six goals for and 16 against. No surprises there, given results this season and Roy's proven weakness on the road.

However, while our time for scoring goals was split evenly - 11 goals scored before half-time and 10 after - our time for conceding was not.

The Reds let in seven goals before halftime, but a whopping 15 after the break - more than twice as many, meaning not only are we leaking more goals in the second half of games, but opponents are outscoring us at the same time.

Of those 15 goals LFC have shipped, eight came from the 60th minute onwards and a massive six in the last 10 minutes of games.

Four of those have been winners in drawn games (Manchester United, Spurs and Newcastle) and one was an equaliser (Arsenal at home), with only the second goal in the 2-0 Stoke defeat not changing the result.

In the same time period (from 60 mins onwards) we scored five times BUT - and this is a big but - we have scored just once after the 70th minute in all our Premier League games this season. (admittedly a winning goal at Bolton for Maxi Rodriguez).

Those stats paint a depressing picture, not only of Liverpool FC's away form but also of the team running out of steam in games and losing control the longer they continue.

The reasons for that? I'm not a coach, but I would suggest LFC's deeper defensive line cedes possession to the opposition, with a lack of possession affecting fitness as games progress.

It also means LFC attacks must be built from inside their own half against organised defences, again taking greater energy and reducing the number of 'quick' goals the team scores.

The answer? I'm open to suggestions, but given we are halfway through the season give or take, it is a worrying pattern that does not bode well for the club's chances of getting into Europe.