Liverpool could benefit from set-piece rule change after Arne Slot comments and Jurgen Klopp claim

Liverpool has gone against the grain in terms of its style this season, struggling to get to grips with a set-piece-heavy Premier League for much of the campaign under Arne Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: James Holyoak/MB Media/Getty Images)

If you had to describe the 2025/26 Premier League season in one word or phrase, there is a good chance that 'set-pieces' would be high on the list.

For Liverpool, though it has improved in recent weeks, it would be fair to say that hasn't worked in its favor. As Arne Slot turned to smaller, technical players like Florian Wirtz, the long throw and various dead ball situations that take an age have come back into fashion.

Arsenal could win the league title on the basis of being an elite version of Stoke City, while even Pep Guardiola has turned to a more physical and direct style, buying the likes of Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo in the process.

According to The Independent, soccer's lawmakers are considering making changes that would speed up the game again and prevent the long periods of time in matches where the play is stopped.

At the moment, when a goalkeeper has the ball in their hands, after three seconds, the referee counts down from five. If the ball is not released at zero, then a corner kick is awarded.

From the summer onwards, when the World Cup takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico, the rules could change to extend those powers to things like throw-ins.

Premier League referee Michael Oliver.(Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)

A similar five-second countdown could be introduced whenever players are perceived to be deliberately delaying a throw-in or a goal kick off the ground.

A throw-in the other way would be awarded after the countdown, or a corner when goalkeepers take too long to play the ball. That way, the incentive would be higher for teams to restart more quickly.

Other ideas include a 10-second limit on substitutions. Teams exceeding that time would face a penalty, such as the player coming on being barred from entering the pitch, forcing the team to play with 10 men for 60 seconds.

In part, the rule changes are to speed the game up and make it more entertaining. It is also useful for broadcasters to know with more certainty how long a match will take for things like adverts and scheduling.

Liverpool would certainly be one of the teams to benefit from there being more actual play and less set-pieces, with the Reds one of the sides best placed to come out on top when the match is flowing rather than disrupted.

Ex-Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou said recently that Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' style of play would be difficult to implement now because of the delays and stoppages in every game, but these rules could go some way to addressing that.

The time it takes for VAR decisions to be made would be unaffected, of course, but speeding up throw-ins and corners would be a good idea.

How it would work in practice, for instance, if a player was running across to the other side of the pitch for a long throw, remains to be seen, but experiments should be welcomed.