Analysis: How Arne Slot has Unleashed Mohamed Salah into Record-Breaking Liverpool Form | OneFootball

Mohamed Salah’s Evolution Under Arne Slot: What has Changed?

Liverpool are undoubtedly the best team in the world at the moment, and a lot of that is down to the best player in the world – Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian King has always been at the focal point of any success over recent years, but so far he has made the 2024-25 season his own.

His goal against Leicester City yesterday was his 19th goal of the season already, with 16 of those coming in the Premier League. That curled effort in the 82nd minute was also another record-breaker, making Salah the first player to notch a direct goal involvement in ten consecutive appearances on three separate occasions. No player in the league’s history has ever managed more than one of that quality of a run, which speaks volumes of the consistency over the years.

Photo: IMAGO

However, as we are in the midst of a historic season from Salah, what has changed to really put him on the global pedestal? I believe that a few Arne Slot tweaks have played a huge part and the underlying numbers seem to align too…

Salah’s New Role

Gone are the days of Salah using his freakish athleticism to terrorise Premier League back lines, instead he’s really showcasing just how special of a footballer he is. Under Slot, there’s less of those devastating direct runs in behind, but more of him occupying that creative space on the corner of the 18-yard box.

Whilst the stunning curling efforts against Bologna and Brighton are reminiscent of early days Salah, he has also picked up a new trademark that has defences stirring. Think back to that same Bologna game, where Salah floated that delightful cross to the back stick for Alexis Mac Allister to poke home. Now, you can do the same with Cody Gakpo’s equaliser against Fulham or Curtis Jones’ winner against Chelsea.

Photo: IMAGO

These are the sort of passes and chances that we have become so used to seeing the likes of Kevin De Bruyne or even Trent Alexander-Arnold execute on a weekly basis. However, it seems Slot has rolled Salah all into one huge bundle of creativity, with his 34 goal involvements in 25 appearances providing the most obvious evidence.

By looking at the underlying numbers, you will see that Salah has reduced the amount of through balls per 90 (0.64 to 0.42) but has increased his amount of crosses (1.45 to 1.87) from last season compared to this season. Some would suggest that Jurgen Klopp had started to restrict Salah’s freedom, but Slot has completely given him all of the creative power.

Goal-Scoring Masterclass

Interestingly, Salah’s finishing statistics have improved significantly. Now, I doubt that he has grew that aspect of his game too much, but the positions that he is getting the ball in is certainly helping.

His shot-on-target percentage has increased from 43.9% last season, to a huge 49.2% in 2024-25. He is also shooting from better positions, with his average shot distance this season sitting at 14.3yds compared to 15.5yds last season.

Photo: IMAGO

Perhaps most notably, Salah’s xG per 90 minutes has increased from 0.75 last season to 0.82, once again reinforcing the idea that Slot has his forward line creating better chances for each other. More importantly, the Egyptian King is over-performing his xG by +2.4 with 16 goals from an xG of 13.6. Last season, he under-performed with 18 goals from an xG of 21.2.

Now of course this is because of the pure brilliance of Salah, but we’re also seeing it with both Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo too. Last season, Diaz scored just 8 goals from an xG of 11.9, with a huge under-performance of -3.9xG. Fast forward to this season, the Colombian is on 7 league goals from an xG of 4.8, with an over-performance of +2.2!

It’s a similar story for Gakpo, who scored 8 goals from an xG of 9.0. Whereas this season, he has already managed 4 league goals from an xG of 3.1.

So overall, it’s no coincidence that all three forwards are having better chances and taking more of them under Slot. So with Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, it’s absolutely remarkable how well Slot has managed to take this Liverpool side up to a whole new level and those tables speak volumes.