Sadio Mane has started the 2018-19 season in blistering form, scoring 4 goals already in as many Premier League fixtures. Salah meanwhile, has two goals to his name. The Egyptian however has had the most number of chances coming his way. But, Salah has created more chances for his teammates further emphasizing his importance to the team.
So far, we’ve seen most defences focusing on keeping Salah extremely quite in front of goal. Salah’s exploits so far have come from momentary defensive lapses and not from individual brilliance. Defences have now trained exclusively to sustain Salah’s style of play. Hence, we’ve seen Salah surrounded by a bunch of men as soon as he gets the ball. This, however, allows a lot of room to his attacking team-mates. It is up-to Salah to find the correct pass under pressure and release one of his teammates.
Sadio Mane has made excellent use of this on the opposite flank scoring in all but one games so far. He scored twice against West Ham and once against both Crystal Palace and Leicester.
If this is a sign of things to come, Liverpool’s attacking this season will be reliant on Sadio Mane and Firmino. Also, it will call upon Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold to supply quality balls inside the box as Liverpool might get crowded out in the centre of the pitch.
Even though Salah has scored 2 goals in 4 matches so far, his number of expected goals are much higher which signals that Salah has the potential to explode any time. He has been getting his fair share of chances but the most important figure in his stats is the amount of chances he has created. He is leading the charts in that particular category, in the whole of the Premier League.
