Mohamed Salah and the Defensive Intensity Puzzle

Has benching Salah helped Liverpool defensively? And was he doing close to enough when he did start?

It is one of the random quirks of football that Liverpool have a better record without Mohamed Salah compared with when he plays. He’s the third top scorer in the history of the club, the Premier League record holder for goal contributions for a single team, and the Reds are stronger in his absence.

This isn’t solely in reference to the recent period in which Salah has been omitted from the starting XI either. Liverpool won eight of their nine matches when he was involved at the Cup of Nations in the past. A similar hit rate over the next month would be most welcome.

Having lost three straight games by three goals prior to Salah’s benching, the Reds have since collected three wins and two draws. Clearing a Leeds corner in the 95th minute at Elland Road would have made those numbers four and one respectively, with the Egyptian King unlikely to help with that had he been on the pitch.

Liverpool were not, however, close to perfect in this period. The Reds were flat against Sunderland, lost a two-goal (and 3-2) lead at Leeds and conceded almost two expected goals to Brighton. Replacing Salah with Dominik Szoboszlai on the right of the attacking midfield trio has not solved all of the issues.

Equally, the switch can’t have hurt given the 33-year-old’s lack of defensive contribution. An article on Sky Sports highlighted the decline in Salah’s physical statistics as part of the explanation for why he was benched.

This does not tell the full story. Some of the lines on the above charts have gone up since last season, while the scales used mean any change isn’t as dramatic as it first appears anyway. Fotmob’s physical data for the Champions League suggests Salah is sprinting roughly as hard as many of his teammates this season.

When, and in which direction, a player sprints given the match situation clearly counts for a lot though. Another table in the Sky piece highlights that Salah doesn’t track back anywhere near as intensely as his positional peers when their team is in defensive transition.

The ultimate issue for Arne Slot is whether Liverpool defend better as a unit without Salah. What the player himself does is not as relevant as the greater good. The number 11’s supposed lack of effort has not been portrayed fairly, though.