Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota received praise for their finishing against Bournemouth, but Mohamed Salah’s injury prevents Liverpool from winning more games than just goals; the 31-year-old is expected to miss matches against Chelsea, Arsenal, Burnley, and possibly other teams in the Premier League.
Three days after Mohamed Salah injury ( hamstring ) Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool defeated Bournemouth 4-0 to allay worries about how his absence might affect Jurgen Klopp’s team.
With two goals apiece to bring Liverpool to seven goals apiece in the Premier League this season, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota demonstrated that Liverpool had formidable firepower even without their talisman.
Three days later, another forward found the scoresheet in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Fulham, as Luiz Diaz’s early goal helped Liverpool secure a spot in the championship.
Their input came at the right time. especially considering Salah’s injury turned out to be more serious than initially thought. However, the Egyptian’s absence remains conspicuous. The underlying data demonstrates why.
At the Vitality Stadium, Liverpool’s total of 1.57 expected goals was actually far lower than their season average of 2.21. For comparison, they had far better opportunities in the goalless draw at Anfield against Manchester United last month (2.38 xG).
Of course, none of it mattered in the end because of the Diaz shot that squirmed past Bernd Leno at Craven Cottage and Jota and Nunez’s merciless finishing against Bournemouth.
Liverpool’s overperformance in relation to expected goals makes it prudent to be cautious when evaluating their chances without Salah, especially with games against Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League still to come.
With 14 goals this season, the Egyptian is tied for the most goals scored in the Premier League, but perhaps more importantly, he leads in assists with eight.
Since joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017, Salah has been a major force in that regard, totaling double digits in assists in four of his six full Premier League seasons.
However, this season, he has reached new heights in his creative output. He actually has the most open-play chances created in the division, with a total of 46. He is ranked first for big chances created as well.
Salah is producing more and better chances, as evidenced by the fact that he leads the team in both expected assists from open play and big chance creation.
Liverpool’s recent performance without him is encouraging. In the past three seasons, Salah has not started a single Premier League game, but they have won nine of the last ten.
However, he had not missed a match since the sharp uptick in his inventiveness during the match against Bournemouth, which made it the first of the current campaign.The loss will be difficult to adjust to.
Of course, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return from injury will assist, as will Andrew Robertson’s overlapping runs on the opposite flank, which are so effective.
However, neither of those players has shown that they are capable of matching Salah’s recent open-play scoring totals.