Sadio Mane vs Mohamed Salah – A Statistical Comparison
Liverpool had an exciting season under Jurgen Klopp, and they managed to qualify for the Champions League next season. They are now looking at some of the hottest prospects in world football to add to their squad this summer. One such player who they are close to signing is AS Roma winger Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian is one of the quickest players around in world football and will team up with one Sadio Mane, whose pace was irresistible at times last season. Salah was in fine form for the Italian outfit last season but how does he compare to the Liverpool man? Is he an upgrade on Mane?
With 15 goals and 11 assists in the Italian league, Salah was more productive in front of goal, having played 4 hours of football more than Mane last season. The Liverpool man scored 13 goals and 5 assists in 27 appearances for Liverpool.
With a passing accuracy of 80%, Salah was more effective in the final third, creating 71 chances for his side, to go with 60 key passes all season. Mane was also terrific but does not match these numbers. The Senegalese winger had a passing accuracy of 77% but created just 43 chances all season. He also has just 38 key passes to his name, in what was his first season at Anfield.
The former Chelsea man is known to be slightly wasteful in front of goal, which is evident from his shot accuracy of just 53% compared to 63% from Mane. The duo have a similar successful take-on rate at around 55% but Mane was far more effective than Salah when facing direct opponents.
Though not strong in the air, Mane won 35% of his aerial duels and 47.35% of his total duels, while Salah won just 25.81% of his aerial duels, showing a weakness there. He also won just 45.77% of his total duels, which is right up there with the figures of Mane.
Both players are tricky to defend against but Mane proved that he is slightly more effective, picking up 55 fouls all season. Playing in a less intense Serie A, Salah was fouled just 26 times. The high-intensity football Klopp wants his side to play saw Mane pick up 9 interceptions all season. But Salah bettered it in Italy, with 11 to his name.
The Egyptian is a much-improved player from his previous stint in England and is surely a player who will increase the quality in the first team at Anfield. But if he will be an upgrade on Mane is a question that only time will answer.