The international break has given Liverpool and Salah a chance to regroup after some poor results, but there are some huge games coming soon.
| Mohamed Salah Markets | Odds |
|---|---|
| To score anytime vs Man Utd | 2.38 |
| To score 2+ goals vs Man Utd | 7.50 |
Odds courtesy of Betway. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
What’s behind Salah’s goal drought?
By the standards of most players, Salah’s start to the 2025/26 season has not been awful. He has two goals and two assists so far in seven Premier League games. However, that represents a steep decline from last term when he was sensational.
The Liverpool man chipped in with 47 goal contributions last term in the league, at a rate of one every 72 minutes. That figure has worsened to one every 158 minutes so far this season.
Salah finished the 2024/25 Premier League ranking first for goals, expected goals, assists and expected assists. He was the English top flight’s outstanding attacking player and by a very clear margin.
Heading into this weekend’s fixtures, the 33-year-old only lies 29th for expected goals and 14th for expected assists. He has finished in the top 10 for each metric in each of the last seven Premier League seasons.
While Salah is at an age where some kind of decline would be expected, the sharp fall suggests there are other reasons for his poor form. His brace for Egypt last weekend would also suggest this may be a Liverpool issue.
It’s clear that Arne Slot has faced early challenges in integrating several new signings into the team. The introduction of another creative, attacking player in the shape of Florian Wirtz has been the most problematic. So far, both Wirtz and Salah have fallen short of their usual best form.
It may simply be a case of Slot needing to tweak a few things. That may require Salah to take on more defensive responsibilities this term. The alternative may be to drop Wirtz and return to a similar structure to last season, which would free up the Egyptian to drift inside.
Familiar foes to bring a change of luck
On the surface, Liverpool have too much attacking quality to fail. This weekend’s clash with rivals Manchester United offers a good opportunity for both their star player and his team to get back on track.
The Red Devils haven’t won at Anfield since Salah moved to Merseyside in 2017. They’ve been on the wrong end of some heavy defeats during that time, including a 7-0 loss in 2023.
Salah scored twice and assisted twice on that occasion, and he normally rises to the challenge whenever the two clubs meet. The 33-year-old has scored 16 goals in 17 previous meetings with Man Utd. That’s his best record against any club he has faced during his career.
Salah has scored at least once in all of his last four matches against the Red Devils. Therefore, this fixture may have come at the perfect time for the Liverpool number 11. He appears to be a value bet to score anytime on Sunday, with an implied probability of 42%.
Catching Erling Haaland, who has already scored nine Premier League goals, may be impossible this season. However, no clear favourite has emerged to finish as the top scorer without the Norwegian. If Salah can regain his form, backing him to score could be a great bet in that market, with an implied probability of 14.3%.