Mohamed Salah took his goal tally for the season to 18 after just 24 games and before the halfway mark. He is the reason Liverpool have one hand on the Premier League title at this early stage and has since taken his total for the Reds past what Thierry Henry scored for Arsenal.
Despite what is proving to be yet again another incredible campaign from the Egyptian international, there has been quite the reaction on social media in regard to Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal winger’s injury of course sparked a response to a point where even Ibrahima Konate made a comment regarding some of the distasteful comments made by some Arsenal “fans” about his injury that sees him sidelined.
The obvious hypocrisy emerged not soon after as Arsenal fans discovered Liverpool accounts celebrating Saka’s own injury. But that is not what this is about, instead it is that Saka's inclusion in the conversation about a player like Salah is what speaks volumes.
There is no doubt who the better player is, for me, it is not even a debate. Comparing a 23-year-old Saka to a Premier League-winning, Champions League-lifting and 200-plus goalscoring legend of the club only highlights one thing… goodness me Saka must be incredibly good.
We are talking about a player in Salah who is second only, in my view, to Thierry Henry when it comes to ranking the best players of all-time in the Premier League. Sadly for Salah, nothing from now until he leaves Liverpool will see him overcome what the Arsenal legend achieved and what he produced.
Numbers bring an edge to the debate for Salah, but when comparing the players the context of eras matters. Even just watching what Salah faced at Tottenham on Sunday gives everything away.
What Henry did during the early 2000s against defenders whose sole job was to defend and not “play out from the back” hold a “tactically naïve high line” or “invert from the full-back role” was incredible. Time travel Salah back and drop him in Henry’s position, the difference would be very obvious.
That does not however take away how amazing a player Salah is and what he’s done for his club. Yet the comparisons and mentioning of Saka in any discussion surrounding the Reds’ winger are very revealing indeed.
Arsenal will miss Saka during this period and like when Martin Odegaard was out Arsenal need to step up, but even more so than before and certainly more successfully too. Liverpool could falter, recent weeks have hinted at that as they have conceded eight in their last three games, and the Saka-less Gunners need to be ready to pounce.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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