How good is Mo Salah? Undoubtedly, Liverpool’s best player. Arguably, the best player in the league? What about in Europe? It’s difficult to measure if we’re honest. My original plan was to compare Salah to Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo in their league campaigns last season, however, I then thought that isn’t particularly fair. Neymar spends half the time playing against farmers which skews the stats so I’ve levelled the playing field. We’re looking at their Champions League statistics from last season. Salah and Ronaldo played more games than the other pair so it’s all per ninety minutes from here on in. Before we get going, let’s have a mooch at Salah’s profile.
Player Profile
Liverpool’s shrewdest bit of business this summer could well be renewing Mo Salah’s contract. He started where he left off last season as he was an integral cog of the Reds’ opening day win against West Ham. Since leaving Chelsea, his career has gone from strength to strength. But, it’s now time for the big question – how does he compare to the other three?
Comparison
It’s no secret what happened to Salah in the Champions League Final. Ramos meant it, I don’t care what anyone says. If he had played the full ninety minutes, who knows what might have been? Enough what might have beens, let’s talk stats. Salah is comfortably second ahead of Messi and Ronaldo in the chances created race. Neymar by far and away the winner, though. Goals scored is a real eye-opener. Messi is bottom with 0.69 which is an excellent return as it is. Mo comes in, once again at second, with a highly-commendable 1.12. Ronaldo steals the show with a whopping 1.36.
Shot accuracy is where Salah starts to shine. None of Messi, Neymar or Ronaldo have shot accuracies above 70%. Salah’s is above 70%, 73% to be precise. Again, successful take-ons paints Salah in a rather positive light once more. Salah is over 15% higher than Messi and Neymar which shows the quality that he possesses. Lastly, it’s all aboard the assist train. The Egyptian comes out on top for the second time, narrowly finishing ahead of Neymar.
Conclusion
Salah is the winner. Finished first twice and twice thrice. Ronaldo and Messi are consistent and that’s the key. If Salah can keep it up this season and next, then maybe we can start to talk about Salah being up there with the very, very best. Imagine if Salah leads Klopp’s side to Champions League & Premier League glory this season. That will certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons!
Over and out.
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