Mohamed Salah is positioned to the right of Curtis Jones. The date reads November 2nd, 2024, and the score is tied 1-1 between Liverpool and Brighton at Anfield, with 16 minutes left on the clock.
The ensuing sequence is something Premier League defenders have likely dreaded for many years: a swift ball to the Egyptian, a precise cut with Salah’s left foot, and then a curling shot finding the back of the net.
The game concludes with a 2-1 score, and Arne Slot’s team, or perhaps more accurately, Mohamed Salah’s team, extends their lead over Arsenal at the top of the league standings.
Stats suggest Liverpool’s league victory heavily relied on Mo Salah
This recurring theme defined Liverpool’s successful season, their first championship celebrated with fans present in three decades.
Salah, who secured the Golden Boot in the 24/25 season, tallied 29 goals in 38 games, with 26 of those proving to be pivotal.
This signifies a goal that either levels the score, wins the game, or establishes a two-goal advantage for the team.
Across all the matches in which he scored, Salah, who is considered the top Premier League winger of all time by FourFourTwo, exceeded his expected goals (xG) by an impressive 7.5, securing 51 points for Liverpool (data source: Opta).
This doesn’t even factor in the significance of his 18 assists, which were the highest among Premier League players since Kevin De Bruyne equaled Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists in the 19/20 season.
Focusing on his playmaking abilities, 15 of Salah’s 18 assists were impactful, and he also led the league in ‘Big Chances Created’ with 27.
That figure was 13 more than Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool’s next most creative player, who departed for Real Madrid during the previous summer transfer window.
Fast forward to August 31st, 2025, and Liverpool has just defeated Arsenal at Anfield.
The match’s lone goal came from a stunning Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick in the 83rd minute – a powerful shot from over 30 yards away.
Yet, unexpectedly, Salah didn’t register a single shot throughout the entire game. This marked only the fourth instance of this happening in Salah’s Liverpool career, and Arne Slot has been at the helm for three of those games.
This victory over Arsenal was the third straight game where the Reds secured a win with a goal scored after the 80th minute, a feat they replicated twice more against Burnley and Atletico Madrid in subsequent weeks. However, since then, Liverpool has suffered defeats in six of their last seven matches, including a 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, which led Arne Slot to replace every player from his previous starting line-up, with the exception of Miloš Kerkez.
Liverpool supporters must confront a difficult truth if they aspire to achieve any significant success in 2026: Mohamed Salah was the primary reason for their Premier League triumph last season, not Arne Slot. Recognizing Salah’s pivotal role in securing the league title will enable fans to assess Slot fairly, not as an infallible figure, but as a manager whose position might be at risk.
A closer look at Salah’s exceptional goal-scoring performance in numerous closely contested matches last season indicates that the Dutch manager didn’t necessarily outperform the league tactically; instead, he heavily relied on the incredible talent of a forward who delivered the most productive season of any attacker in a 38-game Premier League season, contributing 47 goals and assists.
The underlying reasons for Liverpool’s struggles this season extend beyond Mohamed Salah’s individual form. In the initial month of the season, Salah had fewer touches inside the opposition’s penalty area and took fewer shots per game than at any other time in his Liverpool career.
To provide a comparison to the 24/25 season, the Egyptian averaged 10.5 touches in the opposition’s box per game, compared to 5.6 touches this year. His average shots per game have decreased from 3.5 to 2.2, a reduction made more noticeable by the lower average xG (expected goals) of these attempts (data from SkySports).
In Liverpool’s most recent match, a 3-2 defeat away to Brentford, the Egyptian controlled a chest-high pass and then unleashed a half-volley with his weaker foot.
As the ball hit the crossbar before going in, fans were reminded of the magic that Arne Slot capitalized on to build a successful career at Liverpool – the Mohamed Salah brilliance that can turn a game around single-handedly. Recent missed chances from the Egyptian can be attributed to a lack of confidence in front of goal, a direct result of spending that opening month in less threatening positions than he had been accustomed to at Liverpool.
It is also possible that the source of the problem lies in Slot’s determination to make his summer signings the focal point of the team. Of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitiké, only the latter has managed to make an immediate impact.
Isak, who had the second-highest goal tally in the Premier League last season, has only scored once in eight appearances for the Reds, while Wirtz is still searching for his first goal.
If Slot’s system continues to fail, fans must accept the possibility that he may not be capable of managing a team at this level. Until that time, all they can do is hope that Mohamed Salah, who has elevated the club to significant heights since his arrival in 2017, has enough left to do it once again.
