Muhammed Salah ruffled some feathers earlier in the week when he said he is ‘more out than in’ with Liverpool due to the frustrating shape his future with the club is taking after the hierarchy is footdragging on offering him a new contract.
It is hard to believe that the ‘Egyptian King’ is enduring that level of frustration at Anfield, given how he has turned the head with his performance this term so far.
Liverpool unbelievably began the post-Jurgen Klopp era, as the Reds have continued to flourish under new coach, Arne Slot. An astonishing record of 17 wins, one defeat, and one draw is a remarkable testimony to the way things have panned out under the new coach, but at the heart of this scintillating run has been Salah.
It is charitable to claim that without Salah’s incredible form, Liverpool’s story under the Dutchman would have been a completely different one.
With 10 goals and six assists, Salah is the club’s most prolific player in the Premier League by some margin.
He has had his hand in 67% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals (16/24).
More importantly, his goal contributions have been worth 17 points, a feat unmatched by any player in England’s elite division.
To put Salah’s importance into perspective, without his stellar exploits, the Reds would languish in 13th place in the standings.
Salah also boasts of the status of being the first player to reach double figures in Europe’s top leagues for both goals and assists across all competitions this season.
Since arriving in Merseyside, the 32-year-old has proven to be nothing short of exceptional. Following his Premier League debut for Liverpool in August 2017, he’s made the most appearances in the league for the Reds, comprising 262. He ranks just behind Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for appearances across all clubs.
With 165 league goals, Salah has outscored everyone during this period and is only behind Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne for assists, tallying 74.
His minutes-per-goal ratio of 132 is comparable to former Tottenham striker Harry Kane. Salah also leads in penalties scored in the league, with 28 to his name, and he holds the record for the most hat-tricks by a Liverpool player during this time, with four.
Liverpool are eight points clear at the Premier League summit at the moment, with the chance to go 11 points ahead of struggling champions Manchester City with victory at Anfield tomorrow (Sunday), if there is one man that can punish the visitors, then it has to be Salah, a fact Pep Guardiola admitted to in his pre-match interview.
Salah boasts a good record against the Citizens; he has played 21 times against the Sky Blues across five competitions. He won seven times, drawing six, while ending up on the losing side eight times. He scored 11 goals in those games while also producing six assists. Arguably, his best performance against the Eastlanders was in October 2021, when he scored an incredible goal in the 2-2 draw at Anfield. That goal was voted the best of that season.
He may be struggling with his future at Liverpool due to a stalemate in the negotiation for a new deal, but rather than allow that to impede his performance, the Egyptian has leveraged the anger from the situation to galvanise him into churning out incredible shows, and City could be at the receiving end of another sting from the angry forward.
