Number Talk: Stats Prove Why Mohamed Salah Is Liverpool’s Best Signing In Recent Times
When Mohamed Salah played his first game for Liverpool, it was quite clear that he was on the verge of becoming a fan favourite. Fast forward 11 weeks into the Premier League season and that narrative continues to be quite strong. Since August, Salah consistently gets picked as the club’s player of the month, and with good reasons. He might frustrate the fans at times with his shoddy finishing but he does deliver when it comes to every other aspect of the game.
He combines pace with incisive running, making Salah one of the front-runners among his other contemporaries this term. The Egyptian does make the odd miss now and then, but those misses should not tarnish the all-round excellent start to life at Anfield that Salah has made. In fact, that appears to be the only part of his game that’s in desperate need of attention. If he addresses that in time, Salah can go on to become one of Liverpool’s best. It should be noted that a few years back, Luis Suarez was in a similar situation but he blossomed after recognising that he was missing too many simple chances.
Players can build their composure in front of goal, while also improving their finishing. If Salah does so this year, next or at any point down the line, it may be enough to make Liverpool genuine challengers once again. Having said that, his numbers do look incredibly promising.
According to data published by EA Sports (h/t Daily Star), Salah has already scored 7 goals and 2 assists for the club. Interestingly, Suarez scored 11 goals in his first season at Liverpool but Salah has already come close to that number with the season yet to touch the half-way mark.
The data also points to the fact that Salah has had 37 shots in the league so far, making it the 4th-highest figure. He also enjoys the highest shooting accuracy at 65%, which is the highest among his competitors. Similarly, his shots on target are also at the highest level, with him having had 24 of those so far.
When one watches him play, it is quite easy to ascertain that Salah is strong at dribbling, and there are numbers to prove the same now. He has made 22 successful dribbles, which ranks him at 4th in the list of successful dribbles made, with Andros Townsend topping the list (36).
Thus, these numbers show that Salah’s efforts are translating well for Liverpool. He has certainly been their most influential signing of the summer, and there seems to be no slowing him down. Although the Reds were subjected to a slump in form, they have been doing better of late. With Salah in fine form, Liverpool can truly turn things around this season if they continue like this.