Mohamed Salah And Liverpool Lead The Premier League Into 2025

Mohamed Salah is not new to breaking records, but even by his own lofty standards, the 2024/25 season has already become a high point in his career.

Liverpool’s star winger goes into the Christmas period having scored 15 goals and made 11 assists so far this season, making two of each in his side’s 6-3 rout at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

This brought the latest of Salah’s league records as he became the first player in Premier League history to reach double figures for goals and assists before Christmas.

It also makes him the first player to reach double figures for goals and assists in four consecutive seasons in the Premier League era.

His Liverpool team, coached by Arne Slot who replaced Jürgen Klopp in the summer, sits top of the table over the festive period, four points ahead of its nearest rivals and with a game in hand.

League titles are won in May, not at Christmas, but Liverpool’s performances while sitting top of the table have been outstanding, especially considering it had to replace legendary manager Klopp in the summer and its only new signing, Federico Chiesa, has only played 18 minutes in the league.

This midseason position has been achieved on the back of work on the training ground, coaching, and the existing quality and organisation left over from the Klopp era.

For all of the regular frenzy around soccer’s transfer market, Liverpool has reached its Christmas heights without getting involved in any transfer activity, and has proven transfers are not the only way to improve a team.

Liverpool may need one or two reinforcements to keep this up into 2025 and certainly will if it is to do so into the 2025/26 season, but sometimes using and improving the players you have is the right approach.

It has been a team effort at Anfield, but Salah has played a huge role and has been without doubt the best player in the league so far this season.

It has been one of the most impressive seasons the 32-year-old has enjoyed in his eight seasons on Merseyside to date. It is arguably the most complete version of Salah we have seen, as he affects games in numerous ways through passing, creativity and movement as well as his usual scoring prowess.

An extra element of creativity has been added to his game recently.

His expected assisted goals (xAG) per 90 minutes played of 0.43 in 2024/25 so far, and 0.42 in 2023/24, is much higher than during previous seasons which have a peak of 0.33 in 2021/22.

Salah’s assists per 90 stat under Slot is at an all-time high of 0.71, with his previous highest being 0.42 in 2021/22.

His work in deeper areas remains. His additional numbers this season are not the result of any slacking off in other duties or moving into a more central position.

His heatmap shows plenty of work out wide and in his own half making his numbers, which are better than the league’s top central strikers, all the more impressive.

- Author: James Nalton, Forbes