Liverpool are on the top at the moment, both in terms of the league table as well as their displays. Currently sitting 2 points clear at the helm of the Premier League, the club has won all 7 of their opening matches, which is a club record.
Much has been said about the team’s deadly strike force in the last year or so. With Mohammad Salah having a tremendous opening season for the club, it was expected that he will be the team’s talisman again this season. However, to no one’s disappointment, another Liverpool star has stepped up to the plate to be the central figure at Anfield- his fellow African winger on the opposite flank, Sadio Mane.
While you might have always considered Mane to be a quality player in his own regard, his contribution to the team was at times overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of the Egyptian. While Salah completely blew everyone away with his goal tally of 32 last season, Mane matched his numbers in the Champions League by scoring 10 himself.
Attacking Threat
Both players opened the season with goals. While Salah got 1, Mane scored a brace. In the next game, Mane grabbed another, while Salah failed. In a league such as this where fan perception changes every passing week, Mane was seemingly taking over Salah’s role.
The Egyptian however has closed the gap scoring three goals, and in the meantime, Mane got 4 to his name. Delving deeper into the statistics, Mane and Salah both have had 10 shots on target so far (Mane has 1 more if you count the Champions League). What is interesting to note is that Salah has had way more efforts (27 when compared to 19 from Mane).
The majority of these have been from outside the box. He has been blocked way more often as well. This shows that given his calibre, defenders pay way more attention to Salah as compared to the other Liverpool attackers. This might have even helped Mane to find space in attacking areas, and hence his efforts have mostly been from inside the box.
Salah and Mane have also had nearly equal aerial wins of the ball (7 and 5 respectively), something that is not a part of their game. Their strength though, is their mazy dribbling runs. Salah excels here with 30% more successful dribbles than his counterpart. Though he loses the ball far more often as well, having been dispossessed 18 times in the Premier League, as compared to Mane’s 9.
There is obviously not much to choose here between the two players. The only takeaway is that Salah is a bigger risk-taker than Mane. With all his ability, it is all just a matter of his efforts paying off like they did last season.
Creativity
Salah trumps Mane in this department. The Egyptian has had 18 key passes in total so far when compared to 10 from Mane. These key passes directly/indirectly lead to a goal or a scoring opportunity. Also, Salah has grabbed 2 assists in the league, while Mane has none.
Even though Mane has a bigger number of accurate passes, they have been mostly non-incisive possession based passes. Salah, on the other hand, is always looking to find a way through the opposition defense