When it comes to on-field results, life is good for Liverpool and Arne Slot. The Reds are currently in pole position for the league title, sitting six points above Arsenal while having a game in hand. They’ve only lost once in the league so far and are set to host Manchester United this weekend – the Red Devils have lost three in a row and currently sit at 14th place in the league.
Arne Slot’s Reds are also comfortably topping the Champions League table and are also in contention for the EFL Cup where they face Tottenham in the semi-finals. They have a favourable draw in the FA Cup as well where they take on Accrington Stanley. All in all, the Reds could be in contention for the treble.
That being said, the contract situations of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are hanging like a dark cloud. Alexander-Arnold, in particular, is reportedly keen on joining Real Madrid and fans are debating whether the Liverpool youth product should be sold in January or leave for free in the summer.
Salah’s contract is another predicament as the Egyptian is Liverpool’s go-to scorer this campaign. He’s leading the scoring charts (17 goals) and assist charts (13 assists).
While Salah’s goal contributions are spurring Liverpool on, a question that arises is if the club is too dependent on him for their attacking numbers. We looked at his goal involvements (goals+assists) and what percentage do they account for the team’s overall numbers in the league, and then compared it to past players in Premier League history.
Liverpool’s dependence on Salah and how it compares to teams from past seasons
So far, Salah’s 30 goal involvements account for 66.40 percent of the goals scored by Liverpool in the Premier League so far. This is the second highest percentage of goal involvements by a player for his team - the highest being that of Matt Le Tissier who scored or assisted 69.40 percent of Southampton’s goals in the 1993-94 season.
Interestingly, when looking at this list, four of the top 10 players’ contributions were for sides that got relegated that season. Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94, Teemu Pukki for Norwich in 2021-22, Jermain Defoe for Sunderland in 2016-17 and Andrew Johnson for Crystal Palace in 2004-05.
Only once has it happened that a player had an above 60 percent goal involvement and his team won the league - Alan Shearer for Blackburn in 1994-95.
Erling Haaland scored a record 36 goals in the 2022-23 Premier League season and assisted eight - his goal involvements accounted for 46.80 percent of Man City’s goals that season. In 2023-24, that figure dropped to 32.29 percent. The Citizens of course won the league in the above mentioned seasons.
Do Liverpool need other attackers to step up?
The above analysis shows that statistically, when a team is too dependent on one player for goals and assists, they do not win the league. Of course, this can change from season to season and is dependent on multiple factors that includes the performance of the other title challengers.
When we interviewed ex Liverpool star Danny Murphy, he was of the opinion that title winning teams tend to have a focal point in attack, giving the example of Erling Haaland. The former England international, however, does think that his former side would be in a stronger position if other players step up to share the goalscoring and creative load with Mohamed Salah.
"I think the best teams in the world generally rely on one. If you look at Haaland at City in the last couple of years, they've been heavily reliant on him. Arsenal more so on Saka.
"I think it's better and a more ideal situation if other players are chipping in more. We're starting to see Diaz become a bigger goal threat especially when he plays in more central areas. Gakpo can chip in but can do more. Jota's fit again and we know his goals to games ratio.
"At the moment it's not as important but it would be vitally important if Salah was to miss some games. I think the potential of the Liverpool front line is good enough. Although not all of them are playing to the levels that we may expect. Darwin Nunez might be an example of that.
"I think there's capabilities within all of them to do more. So yes, they are reliant on Salah and it's only going to be a concern if he gets injured, I suppose. At the moment, Liverpool look really dangerous in attacking areas and he's part of that. He's not the only person who looks dangerous. I think Liverpool would still score goals. They wouldn't want to lose him for a long period of time."
