How important is Mohamed Salah to this Liverpool side?

Mohamed Salah is arguably the best player in the world and with his contract situation with Liverpool currently up in the air, we’ve dived into the numbers to see just how important he is to this Liverpool side.

Salah joined Liverpool in 2017 and has scored an astonishing 153 goals in 239 matches for Jurgen Klopp’s side and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. 

His current contract with Liverpool is set to expire in the summer of 2023 and talks seemed to have stalled in regards to a new extension. 

Can Liverpool live without Salah or is he irreplaceable? We've looked into the stats to find out.

 

Salah this season 

There’s no doubting that Mo Salah is currently at the top of his game as he currently leads the way in the Premier League for goals with 20.  

Creatively Salah is also on track to having his best season yet, with the Egyptian already producing 10 assists this season.  

He also currently ranks third for Champions League goals this season with eight and his goal conversion rate of 40% in Europe ranks him as one of the best.  

Salah’s 4.58 shot-creating actions per 90 also ranks him as the seventh most creative player in the Premier League, and just behind Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool.  

 

 

How Liverpool plays to Salah’s strengths  

Jurgen Klopp’s 433 system is made to get the best out of Liverpool’s wide men, who for the most part have been Sadio Mane and Mo Salah. 

It won’t come as a huge surprise to learn that the majority of Liverpool’s attacks go down their right-hand side, through Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah.  

38% of Liverpool’s attacks come from the right, compared to 34% on the left and just 27% through the middle.  

As a result of this, Salah has had 884 touches in the final third this season and is only ranked behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joao Cancelo in this regard.  

Salah is also the only player in the Premier League to have taken over 100 shots this season with 110.  

Despite being supplied with the most chances in the league, Salah has still managed to overperform his xG by 1.1 goals which highlights just how clinical he has been.  

As Salah doesn’t tend to shoot from outside the box very often, it will come as no surprise to learn that 19 of his 20 goals this season have been scored from inside the box. Salah has taken 23 shots from outside the box this season, compared to over 90 inside the box. 

Instead of shooting from long range, Salah instead prefers to dribble with the ball into the box so that he can take on a higher xG shot. Salah ranks seventh in the league for completed dribbles with 50 and only Jack Grealish has completed more carries into the box, with Salah completing 62 carries. 

 

Is this Salah’s best season yet? 

Salah set the bar at an all-time high with his first season with Liverpool as he scored 32 Premier League goals and he placed sixth in the Ballon d’Or rankings that year. 

If Salah is to carry on with his current goalscoring trajectory, he will finish the season with 28 league goals, which would be his second-best goalscoring season to date. 

His creative numbers would rank as his best ever though if he carries on creating chances at his current rate. He currently ranks second in the Premier League for expected assists, just behind his Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold.  

If Salah continues to produce 0.37 assists per 90, he will finish the season with 14 assists, which would be his best return in a Premier League season.  

In terms of a trophy return, this could be the pinnacle of his Liverpool career as they are still in with a chance of winning four trophies this season. So far for Liverpool, Salah has won five trophies including the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup.