Mohamed Salah made his Premier League debut in the 2013-14 season and has gone on to make 302 appearances in the competition for Liverpool.
The Egyptian international first signed for Chelsea in January 2014, making 19 appearances for the Blues and scoring twice before leaving the following year.
Salah spent two and half seasons in Italy with Fiorentina and Roma, before returning to the Premier League with Liverpool, where he went on to make history.
The 33-year-old has since made 289 appearances in the English top flight, scoring 185 goals and providing 87 assists in that time.
So with the Egyptian now joint 4th in the all-time scoring charts, let’s take a look how Salah has evolved over the past five years…
Chance creation
Salah’s touches dropped off last season, averaging 49.7 touches per 90, his second lowest figure in this metric over the last five seasons.
However, the Egyptian provided 0.5 assists per 90, created 2.4 chances per 90 and completing 0.5 crosses per 90 from 2.2 attempts, all metrics he performed highest in last campaign.
In the 2020-21 season, Salah attempted his most passes, completed his most passes and had his best long passing accuracy, despite having his worst assist numbers, averaging 0.2 assists per 90.
He also had his worst chance creation numbers during the 20-21 season, averaging 1.7 chances created per 90.
Considering Salah is more of a goalscoring winger, his chance creation metrics have always been strong, providing 0.4 assists on average per 90 and creating around two chances per 90 for his teammates.
Goal threat
Salah had his best goal scoring season in the past fives years last campaign, averaging 0.8 goals per 90 and netting 29 league goals.
The 33-year-old actually averaged his 3rd fewest shots in the past five seasons with 2.8 per 90, with his efficiency proving key, as Salah had a 27.88% conversion rate, his best conversion rate in the past five years.
The 2021-22 season saw some of Salah’s best underlying metrics when it comes to goal threat, averaging 3.3 shots per 90, getting two shots on target per 90 and averaging 11.0 touches in the opposition box per 90.
Salah’s 22-23 campaign then saw a big dip in many of these metrics before bouncing back in the following seasons, recording his fewest goals per 90, his fewest shots, his worst shot accuracy and his fewest touches in the opposition penalty area per 90.
With the changing attacking dynamics at Liverpool this season, Salah’s efficiency could be the key stat to keep an eye on, with other star attackers now in the side, there will be less emphasis on all roads leading to the Egyptian, meaning his ability to take the chances when they do come his way will be key.
Dribbling
Salah had his best take-on success in the 24-25 season of his last five, with a 44.62 take-on success, completing 1.6 per 90 and only overrunning 0.2 per 90.
The Egyptian was tackled 3.8 times per 90, his joint lowest over the past five seasons, whilst losing possession 16.9 times per 90, which was actually his 2nd highest over the past five years.
This comes after a relatively poor season in the 23-24 campaign when it comes to dribbling metrics, overrunning 0.4 take-ons per 90 and being tackled 3.9 times per 90.
With the amount of attacking talent added on the left side of Liverpool’s attack this season, Salah could find himself in more 1v1 scenarios on the right this season, which could put some of those improved dribbling metrics to the test this campaign.
What next?
Salah scored in Liverpool’s opening Premier League fixture, putting him 21 goals away from 3rd spot in the all-time scoring chart.
The 33-year-old signed a new two-year contract this summer, keeping him at the club until the 30th of June, 2027.
With Liverpool heavily changing their attacking dynamics this summer with the additions of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, Salah will be going back to having a star-studded forward unit around him.
Salah will be looking to win plenty more trophies in the next two years at Liverpool. If Slot’s side are to do so, the likelihood is the Egyptian will be firing them towards major honours with a boatload of goals!