There has been much made of how competitive Liverpool are this season despite being under a brand new manager. Arsenal would’ve been thankful to Manchester City’s dip and being two points ahead, but have had that ripped away because of the six-point - potentially nine should the Reds win their game in hand - gap between them and Liverpool.
Many are asking how Arne Slot is doing it or perhaps alternatively why Mikel Arteta is falling behind. The wider context of the conversation involves many factors including the fortune both sides have received in the form of injuries, or a comparative lack of, vital players, decisions by officials and the overall strength of the squads and their experience.
However, the biggest difference between Arsenal and Liverpool this season has been the presence of Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian international had one of his quieter seasons last year with 25 goals, the first time he had not hit 30 since 2020.
Yet he already has 15 this season and we’re many games away from the halfway mark. He also has 12 assists on top of this with Arsenal’s closest contributor being Bukayo Saka with seven goals and 11 assists – nine contributions less than Salah.
What perhaps shows the level Arsenal are up against and why this Liverpool team are simply so dangerous was realised at the weekend. In all the noise of the Reds dropping of points to Newcastle, Salah again scored not once but twice and very nearly won yet another game for Slot’s team.
But these two goals saw his tally for Liverpool reach 226 in total, in 370 games. Impressive? Extremely.
Yet what for Arsenal supporters should make them take notice of just how impressive this is, is to look at arguably their best player of all time’s goalscoring record, Thierry Henry. The Frenchman played a total of 370 games, scoring 226 goals – the exact same as what Salah is on now.
Now, before you click away in a huff, no I am not suggesting Salah is better than Henry. While the numbers certainly allow any Liverpool supporter to have a pretty darn good go at arguing the point, especially considering these numbers by Salah have been achieved playing predominantly as a winger, the context of the game is very different.
Liverpool have been a title challenger about as long as Salah has been at the club, which ended for Henry after less than half a decade with Arsenal. Furthermore, the defenders that both face are different.
In the early 00s, defenders had one job, defend. They weren’t about distribution or bombing up the flanks as much, or inverting and having several other tactical responsibilities.
Their primary and mostly sole job was to stop Thierry Henry, when they faced him. It was perhaps harder for goal-scorers back then and as a result, we’re seeing goal tallies go up and up and up every year.
Salah is in Henry’s conversation and is a legend of the game, already. This is what Arsenal are up against and certainly what they need to find in the future either internally or externally to continue to establish themselves at the elite table.