Liverpool‘s recent defeat to Bournemouth ended a 10-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
The Cherries scored in the last minute to clinch a deserved victory over the Reds. But the loss just so happened to coincide with Mo Salah’s first Premier League start since Liverpool’s previous defeat to Nottingham Forest in mid-November.
So, of course, talk turned to whether Liverpool can blanace their team with Salah in the starting XI.
Arne Slot’s side went from being fairly robust defensively — albeit having adopted a more defensive mindset in general across their 10 match unbeaten streak in the Premier League — to giving up three goals and allowing an Expected Goals total of 3.39 against the Cherries.
For context, Liverpool conceded nine goals from 8.1 xGC across their previous league games. Some fans even claimed that Liverpool were a top six team with Salah in the starting XI, and a title contender without him. This was a wild suggestion given none of the numbers, underlying or advanced, backed this idea up.
But there was some pressure on the Egyptian heading into the Champions League clash with Qarabag. If the Reds failed to win, regardless of whether or not he was directly involved in chances conceded, Salah’s role in the team would be unfairly scrutinised.
In this article, we’ll cover:
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A strong Qarabag performance
The emphatic 6-0 win over Qarabag has gone some way to easing the pressure on Slot, Salah and the entire Liverpool team. It is difficult to take much from the victory over the Azerbaijani side.
They have been one of the surprises of the Champions League, beating Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica and Copenhagen, while also drawing with Chelsea. But they are weak defensively. Qarabag went into the final matchday with an xGC of 14.14 from their opening seven games.
The performance, and the result, isn’t a glimpse into the future. It should be treated as a game in isolation. But it doesn’t mean that certain performances should be ignored.
Alexis Mac Allister scored twice and probably should have netted a hat-trick. Virgil van Dijk shocked everyone by registering three assists. Florian Wirtz continued his run of good form in front of goal with another effort from distance. Hugo Ekitike was, once again, a menace in attack, scoring and assisting. Because of this, some performances went a little under the radar.
One of those was Salah. He scored one goal, from a free-kick routine, and failed to provide an assist in a game that saw Liverpool have 38 shots.
And yet it was one of his best performances of the season.
Salah silencing doubters
The game put to bed the idea that Salah can’t co-exist in the same XI as Wirtz. Prior to this, when one has impressed, the other has generally struggled. In this game, both players held their own.
Salah may not have provided an assist, but he did created a joint-high seven chances. The only other player to carve out as many openings as Salah was Andrew Robertson. Salah also ranked second for Expected Assists with 1.12. The creative maestro that is Van Dijk topped the charts with 1.25 xA.
Salah adopted the role of creator at Anfield on Wednesday evening and the attack seemed to benefit from it. On another day, with the same chances created, he likely finishes with a couple of assists and everyone is waxing lyrical over his performance.
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Salah’s position change
Salah’s positioning on Wednesday night was interesting. Against Bournemouth, Salah was high and wide despite playing as a split striker alongside Cody Gakpo. With possession, Salah was supposed to be in more central areas. Without the ball, he’d drift to the right to make it a front four.
But when he was in possession, Salah had a lot of the ball in wide areas. He was isolated and failed to complete a take-on against the Cherries. He also created just two chances.
By comparison, Salah found himself a lot more central against Qarabag. He was able to combine with Wirtz and act more as a playmaker. He was the right-sided creator, with Wirtz on the left.
That’s what fans that pictured in the summer when Wirtz was announced. It hasn’t been the case much this season, but Qarabag got to witness it first hand.
With more space, Salah was able to complete more dribbles and create almost four times as many chances. As a whole, Liverpool were able to rack up 6.7 xG, thanks to everyone having a good game in attack.
Replicating that sort of output is going to be near impossible. But if the Reds can replicate that sort of dynamic in attack, both Wirtz and Salah can thrive.