Despite his red-card offence against Manchester City, Goal readers have still been more impressed by Sadio Mane than by his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah so far this season.
On paper, there’s little to separate the two.
Liverpool 9/1 to win League Cup
Salah has just been the more productive of the two after returning to the Premier League following a sojourn in Italy with Fiorentina and AS Roma, netting three goals and contributing one assist in five league outings to date.
However, considering Mane has played 291 minutes compared to Salah’s 341, he’s not far behind the Egypt forward, having scored three.
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Indeed, Mane has been the more clinical of the two, averaging 2.5 shots per game, compared to the Egyptian’s 3.8—the fifth highest in the division.
Salah is the more effective dribbler, averaging 1.8 completed dribbles per match, with Mane averaging 1.3.
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However, Goal readers have voted overwhelmingly for Mane as the Liverpool player who’s impressed them the most in a recent poll.
71 percent of those who responded tipped the Senegal international as the more impressive of Liverpool’s two African superstars, with only 29 percent plumping for Salah.
Certainly, without the suspended West African attacker in Saturday’s showdown with Burnley at Anfield, Liverpool lacked the same dynamism and intensity in the final third.
With Leicester City to come in the League Cup on Tuesday evening, and in the Prem this weekend, it will be fascinating to see whether the Mane-less Reds can find the attacking invention that Mane contributed so readily.
Could Salah be the man to reignite the Reds’ stuttering campaign and win over a few more Goal readers?
