Arsenal made one of the most impressive starts you’re likely to see from a visiting team in a big game at Anfield on Saturday, and took the lead inside four minutes as Gabriel headed home a free-kick at the Kop end. Liverpool’s unbeaten record against the big six in front of their home crowd, stretching all the way back to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United in January 2016 (Jürgen Klopp’s first season at the helm), appeared to be under threat.
This stadium, however, belongs to Mohamed Salah, and he was quick to remind Arsenal of that. Heading into kick-off, he’d been involved in 120 Premier League goals in 119 games in L4, the joint-most of any player in the club’s history alongside Steven Gerrard. Just before the hour mark, he moved into the outright lead, blitzing past Oleksandr Zinchenko after receiving Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long pass and then slamming the ball past David Raya in what was one of the best of his 16 goals this season.
This wasn’t the only piece of history Salah made by hauling Liverpool level, though. He also became the first player to score 10 goals against Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City in the Premier League (via Squawka), a testament to his status as the ultimate big-game player. Indeed, he’s now netted 51 times against the ‘big six’ in his career, three more than second-place Jamie Vardy and considerably clear of Harry Kane (42). Cristiano Ronaldo comes in fourth on 36, and then there’s former teammate Sadio Mané on 31.
In fact, four of Salah’s five favorite opponents, going by volume of goals, are member of the big six. He’s been most prolific against United (12), followed by City and Spurs (11), and then Arsenal (10). West Ham (11) is the odd one out after he came off the bench to net in Wednesday’s 5-1 Carabao Cup rout.
The leaderboard is partly influenced by the fact that Salah has played the most games against the best sides, naturally because they’re Premier League mainstays who have also met the Reds in the advanced stages of cup competitions. Chelsea, City, Spurs and Arsenal are his four most common opponents, but his strike rate in these games remains truly exceptional.
A comparison to Liverpool’s other forwards illustrates the point. Cody Gakpo has scored three goals in 10 appearances against the big six since he joined in January, while Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz have managed three and four respectively, both in 15 outings. Diogo Jota leads the way for volume (11), but he has played in 30 of these games for the Reds.
While the numbers only heighten Salah’s legendary status, they also point to a dual problem Liverpool faces. In the short-term, it may miss the AFCON-bound Salah come the new year when it meets Arsenal once again, this time in the FA Cup third round at the Emirates. If Egypt progresses deep into the tournament, then he could be out for the Premier League game in north London too, as well as the home clash with Chelsea.
What’s more, with the 31-year-old’s long-term future at Anfield still uncertain, Liverpool needs to find a successor who rises to the occasion in the most meaningful fixtures, rather than simply filling his boots against weaker opponents. Jota is the closest it has to that right now, but the reality is that it will be near-impossible to replicate Salah’s output with its next foray into the attacking transfer market.
