Mohamed Salah set an unwanted record in Sunday's Carabao Cup final as Newcastle ended their 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy with a deserving 2-1 win over Liverpool.
It has been a campaign to remember for Salah, who has notched 32 goals and 22 assists for the Reds as they sit 12 points clear in the Premier League title race with nine games left to play.
For the past few months, Salah has shown no signs of slowing down under Arne Slot.
He has scored and assisted in 11 Premier League matches in 2024/25, which is the most by a player in a single season in one of Europe's big five leagues since Lionel Messi in 2014/15.
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Salah is also the first player to register more than 25 goals and 15 assists in a Premier League season but on Sunday afternoon, he produced one of his most ineffective games in a Liverpool shirt.
In fact, after recording just 23 touches of the ball against Newcastle, a remarkable stat emerged regarding Salah's performance at Wembley.
According to Opta, Salah failed to attempt a single shot or create a chance during the Carabao Cup final as full-back Tino Livramento produced a superb performance for Eddie Howe's men.
"For the first time in his Liverpool career, Mohamed Salah neither attempted a shot nor created a chance in a match where he played 90+ minutes," said the analytics company, who described his performance as "uncharacteristic".
Speaking on Sky Sports' coverage of the final, co-commentator Gary Neville gave his take on Salah's subdued performance. "I've never seen Mo Salah as quiet as I have in this game," said Neville.
"He has had three touches, 25 minutes into this second half."
Jamie Carragher, on the other hand, explained why he "felt sorry" for Salah, after goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak sealed a 2-1 win for the Magpies.
“I think the lack of pace in attack is glaring," he said on Sky Sports. "And I almost feel a little bit sorry for Mo Salah. He took a bit of criticism after the two Paris Saint-Germain games, against possibly the best left-back in the world Mendes, who was fantastic, he didn’t do too much and he wasn’t great today."
Carragher added: "He doesn’t get help from the other attackers. This isn’t like under Jurgen Klopp where [Sadio] Mane or [Roberto] Firmino could bail them out of trouble. The other attackers Liverpool have got are good players but they’re not great players."
"They’ve relied on him (Salah) too much, so I don’t want to see too much criticism of Mo Salah over this last week. What it’s shone a light on is that Liverpool need to go out and buy two attackers – not as squad players, but possibly to play alongside Mo Salah, hopefully, next season."
Thoughts on Salah's performance? Let us know in the comments.
Topics: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Carabao Cup, Newcastle United
Jack Kenmare