Liverpool wing king Mohamed Salah became the first player in Europe's big five leagues this season to hit a major landmark with his goal and assist in Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa.
Even though the 32-year-old's contract situation continues to provide an unnecessary distraction both for the team and Arne Slot, he is still shining on the Anfield turf for the Merseyside giants and was central to Saturday's triumph.
Salah firstly overtook Thierry Henry in the Premier League's assist charts with his 75th helper in the competition, albeit one that came about in unorthodox circumstances, as he was seemingly pushed over by Leon Bailey while clean through on goal.
Referee David Coote saw nothing wrong with the Jamaican's challenge, but Salah did get the last touch on the ball before Darwin Nunez picked up the pieces, took it wide and found the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Slot's men had to survive a scare or two as the game entered its dying embers, but Salah then capitalised on a Diego Carlos mistake to rubber-stamp Liverpool's win with a nonchalant finish over Emiliano Martinez.
Salah becomes first player to reach double figures in goals and assists
© Imago
In doing so, the former Chelsea and Roma attacker became the first player in any of Europe's big five leagues this season to both score at least 10 goals and set up at least 10 more across all competitions, taking just 17 games to hit that landmark.
Eight of Salah's 10 strikes have come in the Premier League, where he is only trailing Erling Haaland (12) in the Golden Boot race, as well as being level with Chris Wood and Bryan Mbeumo.
The Egypt international has also made the net bulge against Bologna in the Champions League and West Ham United in the EFL Cup, while providing six of his assists in the Premier League and four in Europe.
Furthermore, Salah has now managed 10 goals and 10 assists in all competitions in each of his last four seasons in a Liverpool shirt, and a total of 14 Premier League goal contributions is the most of any player in the division this season.
Thanks to the 32-year-old's critical involvements on Saturday evening, Liverpool have opened up a five-point gap over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, and Salah's praises were sung by his teammates and manager alike.
Arne Slot, Alexis Mac Allister react to Salah's exceptional performance
Mohamed Salah makes it 2-0 🤩
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 9, 2024
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/RMexZlwosS
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Slot insisted that all of his offensive players are producing the goods, but Salah is head and shoulders above the rest in a statistical sense.
"I think he has the best numbers from all our attackers. All our attackers have great numbers but Mo stands out in that aspect," the Dutchman said, after Alexis Mac Allister also paid tribute to the Liverpool "legend".
"He's so good and so important for this team, I think we all know – not just for the team, for the club as well. He's a legend here. So, [I'm] happy for him," Mac Allister added.
"When you have him, you know that he's going to deliver, he's going to get the numbers. We're happy that he's playing for us."
After the international break, Liverpool face Southampton on November 24 before tackling Real Madrid in the Champions League on November 27, but Slot was dealt a worrying injury blow in the first half of Saturday's triumph.
Ben Knapton
