Liverpool’s newest iconic duo combine again as Mo Salah breaks another record
There is a new iconic duo starting to click at Anfield.
Throughout the years there have been some incredible partnerships for Liverpool in the Premier League, from Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres ripping sides apart to Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez putting up insane numbers during the 2013/14 season, but we may be witnessing the start of a new duo on Merseyside.
In the 39th minute against Brentford, Darwin Núñez picked the ball up on the edge of the area after having the ball fizzed into him by Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the Uruguayan expertly flicked the ball round the corner to Mohamed Salah to score his ninth Premier League goal of the season to put the Reds infront.
That goal meant the Egyptian has now either scored or assisted in each of his last 15 Premier League home matches, becoming just the third player to achieve that feat after Thierry Henry (17 games) and Alan Shearer (18 games & 15 games) and the first ever Liverpool player to score in each of his first six home league games of a season.
However, that goal was also an important one for another reason.
Only three players have scored or assisted in 15 consecutive Premier League home games:
◎ 18 – Alan Shearer
◎ 17 – Thierry Henry
◉ 15 – Mohamed Salah
◎ 15 – Alan ShearerThat might be the best front three in PL history. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/SkjhsRS73R
— Squawka (@Squawka) November 12, 2023
It was the seventh time since joining the club in June 2022 that Darwin Núñez had provided an assist in a Premier League game, with every single one of them being for Mo Salah. It’s just the third time in Premier League history that a player’s first seven league assists have all been for the same teammate, after Kevin Campbell for Ian Wright (first 10) for Arsenal and Troy Deeney for Odion Ighalo (first 7) for Watford.
7 – All seven of Darwin Núñez's Premier League assists have come for Mo Salah; only the third instance of a player's first seven PL assists all being for the same teammate, after Kevin Campbell for Ian Wright (first 10) and Troy Deeney for Odion Ighalo (7). Dynamic. pic.twitter.com/HlIH1vEPpQ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 12, 2023
Infact the pair have now combined eight times in the Premier League since the start of last season, with the only time we have seen Mo Salah assist Darwin also being an incredibly important goal for Jürgen Klopp’s side, with Núñez scoring in the 93d minute against Newcastle to hand 10-man Liverpool a 2-1 win at St. James’ Park after coming on as a late substitute.
Four of Darwin’s assists this season have been for Mo, which is the most one player has assisted another in the Premier League so far in 2023/24, one ahead of Bukayo Saka, who has provided three league assists for Leandro Trossard, and Pedro Neto who has also provided three goals for Hwang Hee-chan. The Uruguayan’s seven assists for Mo can only be bettered in the Premier League by one other pair since the start of the last campaign, with Kevin De Bruyne providing eight assists for the goal scoring phenomenon Erling Haaland, who Mo Salah is battling it out with for the Golden Boot.
Mohamed Salah’s last 15 PL home games:
⚽ vs Everton
⚽ vs Wolves
⚽⚽🅰️🅰️ vs Man Utd
⚽ vs Arsenal
⚽ vs Forest
⚽ vs Spurs
⚽ vs Fulham
⚽ vs Brentford
🅰️ vs Villa
⚽ vs Bournemouth
⚽ vs Villa
⚽ vs West Ham
⚽⚽ vs Everton
⚽ vs Forest
⚽⚽ vs BrentfordInevitable.
— Play Squawka Selector for Free (@Squawka_Live) November 12, 2023
His two goals against Brentford mean he has now been directly involved in more goals than any other Premier League player so far in 2023/24 (14) and is just one of two players to score 10+ goals in the competition(10) with the Norwegian (11). The Egyptian’s second half strike, when all the Brentford players had stopped thinking the ball had gone out of play, was also another milestone goal for the Liverpool man, as he found the back of the net for the 200th time in English football (198 for Liverpool, 2 for Chelsea).
His brace means his next few goals for the club will also be important ones, as one more in the Premier League would make him the first African player to reach the 150 milestone in the competition, while two more goals across any competition would see him join Ian Rush, Roger Hunt, Gordon Hodgson and Billy Liddell as the only players to score 200+ goals for Liverpool.
