Liverpool pushed all of their recent agony to one side by comfortably getting the better of Aston Villa 2-0 on Saturday night.
Arne Slot’s Reds do still find themselves seven points shy of Arsenal at the very top of the Premier League tree, with four defeats in a row not exactly helping their cause, but a win was desperately needed all the same, and it was secured in a straightforward fashion versus Unai Emery’s challengers.
Mohamed Salah would have also been relieved, from a personal point of view, that he was back amongst the goals last night as Slot and Co. picked up their first league win since the hotly-contested Merseyside Derby back in September.
The milestone Mo Salah hit vs Aston Villa
It was a milestone night for the Egyptian after all, coming up against the visitors from the West Midlands.
Despite experiencing a shaky start to the season by his lofty standards, Salah would still manage to collect his 250th Premier League goal of his illustrious career on Saturday evening, after he capitalised on a mix-up at the back by Emiliano Martinez to slot a first-half effort home with ease.
That set the reigning champions on their way to an assured three points, with Salah looking lively throughout, away from just adding himself to the Premier League’s record books.
The 33-year-old would very much keep Lucas Digne on his toes throughout, with the Liverpool veteran managing to complete five successful dribbles to look back to his usual rampaging best.
Moreover, Salah also showed plenty of energy and vigour when launching himself into duels, with seven ground duels also impressively won.
Come the end of the contest, Salah would have been pleased with his overall application, away from just stealing the majority of the limelight with his milestone goal.
Still, there is a fresher figure in Slot’s ranks who is seemingly turning into the Dutchman’s new version of the Reds legend, in terms of being a must-have presence on the teamsheet when fit.
Slot's new Salah-type player
Salah is now 33 years of age, meaning his time as a Liverpool regular, week in, week out, could come to a halt soon.
He has, unfortunately, wobbled at points this season, too, with only four goals collected in Premier League action, but class is permanent, as was seen in his encouraging showing against Villa, which showed there’s still life in the ageing winger’s legs at the moment.
It cannot be understated how crucial Salah has been over the years for Liverpool with consistent moments of magic, but Slot could well find he has a new Salah-type figure in his ranks now in Ryan Gravenberch, who is a “vital” figure himself whenever he’s fit in the Liverpool starting XI, as ex-Reds midfielder Steve McManaman labelled him after the important 2-0 victory.
Journalist Henry Winter also stated, after the three points were secured, that the former Ajax sensation is “so important” to how Liverpool tick, with Slot cursing his talisman’s recent injury luck, before he returned to the first-team fold against Villa, with Liverpool coming worryingly unstuck 3-2 away at Brentford with Gravenberch not in the side.
With Gravenberch back in the side, though, on Saturday night, Liverpool never looked in danger of gifting Villa the three points, as the standout number 38 picked up his third Premier League goal of the season already – to show off a killer finishing ability like Salah – when this kind deflection wrongfooted Martinez early in the second half.
Gravenberch also led by example when winning six duels and two tackles, to give Liverpool some needed grit in the middle of the park, on top of also bowing out from the 2-0 win with an 88% pass accuracy intact.
Games played
8
Games started
8
Goals scored
3
Assists
1
Touches
74.4
Accurate passes
53.5 (88%)
Tackles*
2.0
Ball recoveries*
3.6
Total duels won*
5.3
The 23-year-old has been equal parts skilful and attritional throughout the season so far, as can be seen looking at the table above, with Salah’s insane 29-goal season last campaign in the Premier League even seeing him win his fair share of duels, when averaging 3.3 successful duels per clash.
The 8/10 midfield star – as was the post-match rating handed to him by journalist Ian Doyle – still has a long way to go before he’s seen in the same glowing light as Salah, who has become a top-flight great at Anfield.
But, if he continues at his current trajectory – with one analyst even branding him as “world-class” for his well-rounded showing against Villa – he will also be fondly remembered in the Liverpool hall-of-fame down the line, long after Salah’s esteemed playing days.