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Mo Salah

MOST attackers specialise in one thing.

The Premier League has elite goalscorers – players like Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, and Son Heung-min.

It also has its assist kings – the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kevin De Bruyne, and Bruno Fernandes.

Very few are world class at both of those things.

In fact, since the competition began in 1992-93, only four players have been top or joint-top for both goals and assists in a single season – Andy Cole in 1993-94, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in 1998-99, Harry Kane in 2020-21, and Mohamed Salah in 2021-22.

This season, Salah leads the way for both again with 24 goals and 15 assists. He is looking to be the first player to repeat the feat of winning both the Golden Boot and Playmaker award in the same season.

If he doesn’t score, he very often sets up a teammate instead. In fact, he very often does both in the same match.

 

Liverpool have played 26 Premier League games this season, and in 10 of them, Salah has recorded at least one goal and at least one assist.

That’s comfortably an all-time competition record – the previous high was seven set by five players:

Premier League Season Games Scored + Assisted
Mohamed Salah 2024-2025 10
Alan Shearer 1994-1995 7
Thierry Henry 2002-2003 7
Robin van Persie 2011-2012 7
Harry Kane 2020-2021 7
Bruno Fernandes 2020-2021 7

Opta have full assist data in Europe’s big-five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1) going back to the 2006-07 season. Since then, only one other footballer has done what Salah has in 2024-25, scoring and assisting in 10+ matches in a single campaign in those divisions.

That footballer’s name is Lionel Messi.

Big-Five Euro Leagues since 2006-07 Season Games Scored + Assisted
Lionel Messi 2014-2015 11
Lionel Messi 2011-2012 10
Mohamed Salah 2024-2025 10
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2015-2016 9
Jadon Sancho 2019-2020 9
Lionel Messi 2010-2011 8
Lionel Messi 2012-2013 8
Luis Suárez 2015-2016 8
Luis Suárez 2016-2017 8
Neymar 2017-2018 8
Kylian Mbappé 2021-2022 8

To be discussing Salah in the same league as Messi tells you all you need to know about what the Egyptian is achieving in 2024-25. All told, Salah has both scored and assisted in 48 separate games in Europe’s big-five leagues in his career. From 2006-07, only Messi (102), Cristiano Ronaldo (65), and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (49) have done so more often.

 

Salah’s rate of goal involvements this season is the best of any player in Premier League history – he is scoring or assisting a goal every 59 minutes played on average this term, the best figure by a player with 20 or more involvements in a single campaign.

Premier League Player Apps Mins Goals Assists Goals+Assists (20+) Mins Per
2024-2025 Mohamed Salah 26 2,304 24 15 39 59
2022-2023 Erling Haaland 35 2,776 36 8 44 63
2013-2014 Sergio Agüero 23 1,539 17 6 23 67
2013-2014 Luis Suárez 33 2,964 31 12 43 69
2017-2018 Mohamed Salah 36 2,921 32 10 42 70
2016-2017 Harry Kane 30 2,531 29 7 36 70
2010-2011 Robin van Persie 25 1,768 18 7 25 71
2009-2010 Didier Drogba 32 2,774 29 10 39 71
2004-2005 Thierry Henry 32 2,827 25 14 39 72
2017-2018 Sergio Agüero 25 1,969 21 6 27 73

In Liverpool’s 12 remaining games, Salah requires nine goal involvements to break the record for most overall in a single season, which stands at 47, jointly by Andy Cole in 1993-94 and Alan Shearer in 1994-95 – both of which were 42-game Premier League campaigns.

He needs five assists to become only the second player – after Thierry Henry in 2002-03 – to record both 20+ goals and 20+ assists in the same Premier League season. Six assists to surpass Henry and De Bruyne’s joint-record of 20 in one term.

For what it’s worth, the last player to reach 20+ for both goals and assists in any of Europe’s big-five leagues was, of course, Messi in 2019-20.

The thing is, Salah isn’t just stat-padding with his contributions, either.

If you take away his goals and assists, Liverpool would be 31 points worse off than they are now – that’s over half of their current total of 61. And yes, Salah’s goal involvements alone have been worth more points to Liverpool than the likes of Tottenham (30), Everton (30), and Manchester United (29) have points in total this season.

Indeed, on only five occasions in Premier League history has a player’s goal involvements been worth more points than Salah’s 31 in 2024-25 – yet another record the Egyptian has ample time to break.

Premier League Season Goals + Assists Points Won
Robin van Persie 2012-2013 35 38
Alan Shearer 1994-1995 47 38
Alan Shearer 1993-1994 35 35
Andrew Cole 1993-1994 47 35
Jamie Vardy 2015-2016 30 32
Mohamed Salah 2024-2025 39 31
Les Ferdinand 1992-1993 25 30
Riyad Mahrez 2015-2016 28 30
Thierry Henry 2003-2004 36 29
Alan Shearer 1995-1996 38 29

This isn’t a new phenomenon either. Since he joined the club in 2017, Salah’s goals and assists have been worth 164 points to Liverpool. Only two players – Harry Kane (173 for Tottenham) and Ryan Giggs (170 for Man Utd) – have won more via their involvements for a single club in Premier League history.

Salah’s ability to both score and set up goals is what makes him so good. You can try to stop him scoring, but he will find a way to provide for a teammate instead. He is relentless, whether it’s cutting inside to shoot, or finding a perfect cross or lay-off. Salah is the only player to play 500+ mins in the Premier League this season and average 3+ non-penalty shots per 90 (3.5), 2+ open play chances created per 90 (2.1), and 5+ touches in the opposition’s box per 90 (10.8).

It’s a double-edged sword that defenders have simply no answer for.


                                                                                          
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