Eduard Bănulescu
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have been carving defenses up for Liverpool for the team’s last campaigns. This year, they are on course to bring the Reds their first English title success in 30 years.
But, who’s the overall better player? Today we continue our look at the stats, tactics and fantasy football importance of the two goalscorers and try to find out which one, of these two superstars, can be argued to being the superior player.
Salah vs. Mane: 2018/19 season
The attacking partnership between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane was well established by the start of the 2018/19 season. A third player, usually Roberto Firmino, often rounded up an irresistible attacking power-trio.
Forming one of the best offensive partnerships in the modern game and raising their cohesion levels, Liverpool managed to win the UEFA Champions League in 2019 and finished runners-up in the Premier League after leading the procession for much of the season.
- Mane played in 36 matches for Liverpool, while Salah was active in 38 matches
- Mane scored 22 goals, as many as Mohamed Salah
- The Senegalese forward had a total of 43 shots on goal. Salah took 66 shots on target
- Mane created 41 chances, while Salah was responsible for creating 60 goal chances
- Mane had 715 medium-length passes and 230 successful short passes. Salah was responsible for 572 medium-range passes and 264 short ones.
- Mane was caught offside 14 times, Salah, 27 times
- Sadio Mane managed to head the ball to goal six times, Salah didn’t score any in this way. The Egyptian improved his marking skills significantly, yet Mane contributed more to this aspect.
- Mane registered 1 assist, while Salah contributed decisively on 7 occasions
- Sadio Mane recorded 541 points in FootballCoin, Salah managed 771 points by the end of the 2019 campaign
Verdict: Salah may have remained the more popular footballer, but Sadio Mane matched his fellow striker in almost all respects. Considering his involvement in more aspects of play, we are tempted to say that the Senegalese forward enjoyed a slightly better year, but only by a hair.
Salah vs. Mane: 2019/20 (unfinished) season
Liverpool’s pace showed no signs of slowing down in 2019 and 2020. By the unfortunate break to the season, caused by the coronavirus emergency, the Reds had amassed a comfortable lead at the top of the EPL, yet they had been knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid.
This has been arguably Sadio Mane’s best season in professional football and the first in which he has outscored Mohamed Salah. As a result of the club’s results and their individual showings, both players were nominated for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award.
- Both Salah and Mane played in 26 matches this season in the Premier League. Most often the two were paired up in the team’s attack
- Salah scored 16 goals, 3 of them by penalty. Mane managed 22 goals, none of them by penalty
- Mane managed 22 shots on goal, Salah had 43 shots
- Mane created 38 goal scoring chances, while his teammate contributed 40 chances
- Sadio Mane tried passing the ball 776 times and successfully got the ball through on 66 occasions. Salah had 562 successful passes out of 689 tries
- Mane was outside on 14 occasions, Salah on 23
- Mane headed two shots into the back of the net, Salah scored one goal by header
- Mane contributed 7 goal assists, Salah managed 6 assists
- Sadio Mane had 694.7 points in FootballCoin across the season, Mohamed Salah managed 709.55 points
Verdict: Naturally, it’s difficult to pick between two of the word’s best-attacking players. But, considering the fact that Mane has managed to greatly elevate an already stellar record, we will nominate him as having had the better season so far.
Liverpool remains in wait about the FA’s decision for the remainder of the Premier League season. Regardless of what be agreed, the Reds have no doubt been the best side in England this past campaign. A lot of this has had to do with the outstanding talents of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
