I read an interesting statistic that out of the last 7 matches where Andy Carroll has started, we have won 6, drawn one and lost none. Even more interesting is that out of the last 9 where we have started without him Liverpool have lost 6 and drawn 3 with not a single point on the board.

I’ll relate those figures again for you:

Statistic 1.

Without Carroll our form for the last 9 matches reads DDDLLLLLL equating to just 3 points out of a possible 27 in total.

Statistic 2.

Where Andy Carroll has started our form for the last 7 matches reads WWDWWWW which is a massive 19 points from the 21 available.

Now at first glance this screams for Carroll's selection but these types of statistics can mean anything; it could be mere happenstance, or perhaps the results coincide with the loss of key personnel, or conversely other personnel becoming available? It could be these reasons, a mix of the two or a combination of other potential causes not touched upon here, but whatever it is, given Andy’s seemingly erratic performances many people have found this hard to believe, myself included.

On the face of it Andy Carroll has on the whole, looked like a square peg in the round hole of Dalglish’s pass and move philosophy so it is a little surprising to see how effective he has been, going by the statistics above. However there is a perfectly logical explanation for this, whoever dreamt up the numbers above, which have been circulated on Liverpool forums and social network sites recently, has been about as creative as Rosie Redknapp’s accountant.

The fact of the matter is over the last 9 games without Andy Carroll in all competitions we have suffered 5 losses (consecutive) 3 draws and one win, while if we take Premier League matches only into consideration it reads 5 losses, 2 draws and 2 wins equalling 8 points taken from a possible 27 on offer. Admittedly not great but still looking a little better than the 3 points claimed by whoever dreamt up the “we’ve not won a match in the last nine games without Andy Carroll” story, and where they got the 6 consecutive losses from Robbie Fowler only knows.

What about the statistics on matches where Andy Carroll has started then? 

Well these are a little better, at least the form given here has some basis in reality, although the 6 wins and one draw applies to all competitions so the claim that we have taken "19 points from 21" does not stand up. The truth is a little less impressive. The last 7 league ties yielded 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses making a total of 11 points from 21. Not nearly as impressive, and (in the interests of scientific neutrality) it is only fair our comparison covers the same number of games as those we have examined where Andy Carroll hasn’t played, which would give us a further two games to look at; we lost one and drew another, which would make a grand total of 12 points from 27 available, only 4 points shy of the total we have accumulated without him.