Mohamed Salah: just how good is he?

Mo Salah – the Egyptian King

The outstanding career and season of Mo Salah is fairly well documented in terms of real life football. Today we’re going to jump into the numbers, and see if this is just the hype of the hour or an actual outlier. After all, every year has its stars on the pitch, but how well do they perform on your draft squad? We strive to factor in more datapoints and a rounder view of players in every position, but even so it’s those lethal finishers and playmakers in the attacking half of the team that rise to the top. Even in the more simplified scoring system of our big cousins next door, Salah shines. However, when you dive into the more hardcore analysis he is, believe it or not, even more crucial this season than any other player. Come on a dive through the data with Statr.

2025 – the story so far

Salah currently sits atop the points table this year due in no small part to his record-approaching goal involvement. Not only is he the only player above 500 points (with 12 weeks to go, no less), but he’s a hair away from 600 points which is not only more than anyone else, but it’s not even close. His nearest rival year to date is one Cole Palmer, who – had he not taken a recent nosedive for consistent attacking returns – would be on track for a record score himself. Salah is currently on a frankly demented 41 goal involvements in just 26 games, comprised of 25 goals and 16 assists. For context, he’s seven goal involvements away from the all-time record held by Andy Cole ,and at current run rates will get over that line by week 32, and more than likely break 50 for the year.

Here we see the trifecta of a glory-coated Liverpool season (11 points clear at the top of the premier league at time of writing, an experienced attacker hitting his personal peak, and a squad relying largely on one man to deliver the real magic of the season. No disrespect to Gakpo, Diaz, the ever-injure Jota or the floundering Nunez, but it’s been the Mo and friends show at Anfield all season. Yes, their midfield trio of Gravenberch, MacAllister and particularly Szoboszlai have been brutal and surgical in equal measure, but it’s Salah leading what looks like an unstoppable march to silverware for the reds this year.

How does it compare to the other heavyweights?

The top drawer isn’t just one man, despite this year’s dominance. Last season saw the top two spots claimed by Saka and Palmer,  with the year before being that incredible season wherein Erling Haaland was scoring for shits and giggles. First let’s take a look at where all four were sitting at this point of the season over the past few years:

You’re reading that correctly. Salah’s not just beating the outstanding 16-7 PPG week but absolutely smashing it on a terrifying – and yet inexplicably consistent – 21.96 points per game. For anyone paying attention, the magic number in our prototype league this season so far is around 115 to – on average – win every fixture. Salah alone provides as much bankable points action as most squads starting defence combined. So next, we decided to see how that would compare to previous season tallies if he manages to continue this form for the next 11 game weeks:

In a league where nobody has ever crossed 600 points in a season, Salah is on course to add an extra 230+ points to that record. He’s already the closest to breaking 600 as of last year. Amazingly, Cole Palmer – despite being fierce quiet all of a sudden – is also still well on his way to breaking the 600 threshold if he can get back to where he was before Christmas.

What about Salah of old?

What’s improved? Why this season? Well, as we said at the top of the post, the conditions are absolutely excellent. Also, the three factors that used to slow him down are all out of the picture this year

1. No African Nations Cup to waste time on this season (editor’s note – if it’s football and it’s not scoring points for my squad, it’s a waste of time). Which in turn means….
2. No January lull. Mo has in years past proven unreliable after Christmas, even after returning from international duty with Egypt. This year? just over 60 points from 4 fixtures, and that’s his low patch.
3. He’s finally stopped getting brainless yellow cards for taking his top off every time he scores, which – given his goal rate – is probably for the best.

So he’s my first pick next year, right?

Oh hell no, he’s been talking about leaving for several months. Just today he had the following to say:

“I want fans to remember that I gave it all to the fans,” Salah told TNT Sports. “I gave it all to the city. I was here, I wasn’t lazy, I just enjoyed my football and gave it all.

“I think that’s what the city is about – they give you love and you have a connection with them because you give your all. I just want them to remember that I was here for eight years and I gave it all.”

Plenty of past tense there, and a mention of 8 years. Sounds like a farewell at the bottom of a love letter to me. Nonetheless, if it’s time to move on, he’s certainly leaving on a high, and I mean Snoop hanging out with Hunter s. Thompson and Keith Richards in Amsterdam on New Year’s Eve high. If you’re playing draft, I hope you bagged him back in August, because you may never see a season like this again.

Jimi Kavanagh, February 2025