Mo Salah’s stats tell a different story to performances – still breaking records

Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Tottenham saw several players return to form, including Mo Salah who has perhaps quietly had another extraordinary season.

It is obvious to see that Salah has struggled since returning from injury.

Before playing Tottenham, he hadn’t scored from open play in eight matches and was understandably dropped by Jurgen Klopp against West Ham.

In fact, before the weekend, injury, AFCON and poor form had resulted in him scoring just two Premier League goals from open play since New Year’s Day.

Sunday saw him put in his best performance of 2024 yet, though, and his goal and assist against Tottenham means he is now having the fourth-best statistical season of any Liverpool attacker since 1992.

Against Ange Postecoglou’s side, FotMob tells us he had more touches in the opposition’s area than any other player, level with Heung-Min Son on 12.

He also put four of his five shots on target, an area that he has struggled in of late, and created three chances – only bettered by Harvey Elliott who produced five.

Salah is now the first player in the Premier League era, to score more than 10 goals and provide more than 10 assists in three consecutive seasons, according to Opta.

 

Elliott in midfield

With Salah out in the early part of 2024, Elliott was often forced to play on the right wing, a position he isn’t particularly suited to in Klopp’s system.

Against Tottenham, though, he was deployed in midfield and was FotMob‘s man of the match with a rating of 9.2 out of 10.

He was influential throughout, completing more passes (47) than any other Liverpool player, while only Trent Alexander-Arnold had more touches, 86 to Elliott’s 69.

While the 21-year-old has started just nine times in the Premier League this season, his performances from the bench across all competitions have been generally excellent.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, May 5, 2024: Harvey Elliott of Liverpool celebrates 4-0 during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield. (Photo by Ryan Brown/Propaganda)

Using DataMB, we can see that across Europe’s top five leagues, Elliott is in the 97th percentile for progressive carries and 99th for key passes.

This means he is in the top three percent and one percent of players for those metrics, respectively.

Fuse that with his relentless energy, he is a player Arne Slot should be looking to integrate into his starting XI.


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