Mohamed Salah’s drop-off mapped, Liverpool will be hugely concerned
Liverpool lost their first game of the season with another defeat to Crystal Palace after the Eagles beat them in the 2025-26 Charity Shield curtain-raiser at Wembley.
Mohamed Salah’s controversial handball in the buildup to Federico Chiesa‘s goal had social media in outrage on Saturday (27 September), but ultimately, it counted for little as goals from Ismaila Sarr and Eddie Nketiah saw the Reds slump to a defeat.
Ibrahima Konate had one of his worst games for Liverpool as he lost the ball four times and committed two errors leading to a shot and was ultimately substituted.
It was arguably Crystal Palace’s best performance of the season, which saw them rise to second in the Premier League table.
Mohamed Salah left isolated and frustrated
Despite an 88% pass accuracy and two key passes from Salah, he was isolated and frustrated on the right wing. There were several occasions when he was in acres of space, but a moment’s hesitation from Florian Wirtz or Alexis Mac Allister allowed the Palace defence to settle back into their low block.
Arne Slot got his tactics all wrong, but it’s not the first time this season.
Salah’s poor performance is a direct result of some very odd tactical choices. The Egyptian played 24 passes, but most of them were backwards or sideways, which is not what you want from your chief playmaker.
In numbers: How poor was Salah against Crystal Palace?
Salah signed a club-record contract at the end of the 2024-25 season, but his form has not measured up to the wages he is now earning.
Liverpool’s squad has changed drastically, and Cody Gakpo is the only forward at the club that Salah was playing with last season. Yet, at 33 and on a massive contract, the Reds need Salah to drag them to results like he did on the way to the Premier League title in 2024-25.
Salah’s stats vs Crystal Palace are a mixture of extremely concerning and somewhat promising.
| Mo Salah against Crystal Palace | Stats |
| Big chances missed | 2 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Touches | 37 |
| Pass accuracy | 88% |
| Dribble attempts (successful) | 1 (0) |
| Possession lost | 11 |
On one hand, Salah created two big chances for Liverpool teammates, but on the other, he missed two big chances himself, cancelling each other out.
The two most worrying stats are his single and failed attempt to beat his man with a dribble, and the fact that Salah had an 88% pass accuracy. He was safe and careful not to lose the ball, which meant he completed more passes than he usually does.
Slot needs to take a very close look at his tactics this season because he’s not getting the best out of most of his players, and when Chelsea host Liverpool next weekend, the Reds need to be sure they don’t drop points for the second game in a row.