In the final round of the 2024-2025 Premier League season, Mohamed Salah scored against Crystal Palace, thereby equaling the record of 49 G/A (goals and assists) in a season, equal to famous players Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Salah only needs 38 games to do that, compared to 42 games like his seniors.
At the end of last season, Salah made a very impressive announcement about his new 2-year contract with Liverpool. Previously, many people were skeptical about whether The Kop was really right to sign Salah for an extension. Finally, everything was settled and no one thought that after only 6 months, everything would develop in the negative way it is now.
19 appearances since the beginning of the season with only 5 goals and 3 assists is a performance that is completely opposite to what Salah did last season. Having been on the bench for three consecutive matches and now being left out of the squad for the match against Inter in the Champions League, everything has changed too quickly for Salah.
Last season, Liverpool's squad revolved around Salah and the Egyptian striker benefited a lot. This season, on the other hand, when new players are given more responsibility, many old players have left the team, Salah no longer has the important role as before, nor is he used to the way he operates and the new players.
After the draw with Sunderland, Arne Slot himself admitted that he had moved Dominik Szoboszlai to right-back because the Hungarian player could support the defense better, which is now impossible for Salah when his fitness has declined at the age of 33.
Many view Salah has less possession and less involvement in situations this season. However, the truth is mixed. Last season, the 33-year-old striker averaged 49 touches/90 minutes, a number that has increased after 15 Premier League games this season to 50.
However, the number of times Salah touches the ball in the opponent's penalty area per 90 minutes is decreasing, from 9.6 times/minute to 7.3. Salah also has to pick up the ball in areas further from the opponent's goal, forcing him to use his strength to break through, which he cannot do as well as in previous years.
As the ratings have deteriorated, Salah's number of shots per 90 minutes has also decreased. Since the beginning of the season, he has only had an average of 2.7 shots, with about 1 shot on target per match. This was 3.5 and 1.5 respectively in the previous season. Salah's expected goals have also fallen to just 0.1.
Last season, Salah's most prolific per-90 minute pass was Trent Alexander-Arnold (who has moved to Real Madrid) with an average of 10.5 times. Salah has 7.6 return passes to Trent. This figure for Szoboszlai is 5.8 and 4.9, respectively.
That is the coordination with players on the same wing in the defense. For partners on the attack line, the index is also drawing a very bad prospect for Salah. Alexander Isak has only passed Salah two passes per 90 minutes on average, while Hugo Ekitike has one even smaller figure, just about 1.2. Last season, the compatible partners of the "Egyptianharaoh" were Darwin Nunez (3.4), Luis Diaz (2.5) and Diogo Jota (2.3).
With Salah having fewer chances, every time he owns one, everything is scrutinized more carefully. The missed goals in front of Chelsea and Man United have been dug up to this point. Salah's shot-to-goal conversion rate this season has fallen significantly, from an average of 20.2% last season to 11.1% this season.
What remains unchanged is Salah's ability to create chances. He is creating slightly more chances (2.3 chances per game compared to 2.2) in the Premier League this season. Salah created the 3rd and 4th chances out of 24 live balls overall (28). However, his total assists are expected to be 1.9 suggesting they are not high-quality chances.
Last season, Salah's duels success rate was 40.7% and his dribbling success rate was 42.3%. This season, both have dropped to 28% and 23.4%, respectively.
Despite being a great legend of Liverpool when going through the most successful period in the team's history in the Premier League era, Salah could not beat time. With a significant decrease in professional contributions, Salah should accept a bench instead of creating a very negative media scandal like in the past.
