It’s been another fantastic season for both Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane. The pair have formed a deadly partnership under Jurgen Klopp, and with Roberto Firmino in the mix too, the Reds have been unstoppable moving forward.
However, in April, things could get even better for the pair.
Now, for all of Liverpool’s talents, they don’t have anyone quite like The Ox, and the two players that suffer most because of that are Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane.
After all, nobody is able to produce the creative genius that Oxlade-Chamberlain can, with the attacker able to make something out of nothing from the heart of the Liverpool midfielder.
Let’s take his statistics from the 2017/18 season, for example. According to Who Scored, the Englishman was able to produce a whopping 34 key passes, highlighting his role as a core player within the Reds’ offensive buildup. Likewise, with over 80% passing accuracy, more often than not the Englishman is able to pull off his passes – whilst his return of 3 goals and 7 assists highlights how invaluable he is under Jurgen Klopp.
Beyond that, though, Oxlade-Chamberlain is just the perfect link-up player. He tends to sit further forward than the rest of Liverpool’s central midfielders, and that naturally means that he’s more involved in offensive plays. For example, he’s happy to burst forward, utilising his pace, when Liverpool are counter-attacking – which means that players like Mane and Salah have someone else to play with when moving forward. Of course, this doesn’t come at the cost of defensive work, either, with the midfielder’s relentless engine able to aid him in his quest to help out at both ends of the pitch.
Everyone at Liverpool will be handed a boost by the return of The Ox, but Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah will finally find the final piece of their jigsaw. The trio link-up seamlessly, and though it will scare opposition players, they’ll only get better when working in tandem.
Thoughts?
