Each week in The Debrief, Adam Bate picks out tactical trends and underlying statistics from the Premier League action over the weekend; we begin with Mohamed Salah's sprints, Bukayo Saka's positioning and Mason Mount's counter-pressing…
Tuesday 20 August 2024 07:53, UK
Perhaps you will have seen that Mohamed Salah's goal in Liverpool's 2-0 win against Ipswich at Portman Road means the forward has now scored more goals on the opening weekend of the Premier League season - nine - than any other player.
But it was another lesser-spotted statistic that shed more light on how he helped to ensure Arne Slot's first game in charge of Liverpool ended in victory. Salah made 31 sprints in the game, the second most of any Premier League player over the weekend.
In part, that reflected the tactics at play. The only man with more was Leif Davis, the Ipswich left-back tasked with tracking him. His total was 32. If it had been 33, he might have stopped Diogo Jota's opener but he allowed Salah to run free to set that one up.
The Egyptian's energy coupled with his intelligent movement exposed Ipswich's high line. "Their centre-back always stepped in towards [Dominik] Szoboszlai," noted Slot. "That means you leave three defenders against three attackers." Salah took advantage.
By the end, he had registered a higher expected goals total, excluding penalties, than in any Premier League game away from Anfield last season. The relationship with Jota helps. He favours the left channel and that opens up space in which Salah can work.
At 32, there has been inevitable speculation about just how long he can continue to do this. Liverpool's legendary winger John Barnes moved to a deeper role in midfield and Ryan Giggs made a similar journey. Cristiano Ronaldo became a centre-forward.
On this evidence, Salah can keep doing this role for a while yet. "If I see what he does to keep his body as it is and be ready to play every game I think there are many more years inside of him to play," said Slot. Physically and tactically, this was very encouraging.
Salah has been the Premier League master when it comes to cutting inside on his left foot and finding the finish but Bukayo Saka is no apprentice. The 22-year-old Arsenal winger was at it again, scoring and assisting in his team's 2-0 win over Wolves.
Saka had 15 touches inside the opposition box at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, four more than any other Premier League player in action at the weekend. One such touch brought his goal. He did not even need to enter the box when assisting the opener.
That total of 15 was as high as he managed in any Premier League game last season and he was given far too much space throughout. However, as Mikel Arteta pointed out afterwards, even knowing what Saka has planned does not mean it can be prevented.
The Gunners head coach even compared him to Lionel Messi. "With good players it is like that," said Arteta. "With Messi, I know he is going to come here and put the ball there. But he does it all the time. You cannot stop him. That is the quality of the player."
Even so, Arteta deserves credit for setting up his system to ensure defenders are often isolated against Saka. Over the past three seasons, Saka has found himself one-on-one with an opponent 766 times. The next most? Gabriel Martinelli with 569 such situations.
It is a key aspect of Arsenal's success and testament to Arteta's tactical acumen that he is able to tweak the build-up so the ball continues to be delivered to his star boy. But it is Saka's quality, and awesome reliability for his age, that makes it all so effective.
Meanwhile, Mason Mount's contribution to Manchester United's 1-0 win over Fulham divided opinion. On the face of it, the England international was hooked with the game still goalless and it was his replacement, Joshua Zirkzee, who scored the winning goal.
Given that Mount, playing in an advanced position, completed only 11 passes and had just one shot, his on-ball involvement appeared limited. But do not be surprised if Erik ten Hag sees the performance differently. "We pressed very well," he told Sky Sports.
It was Mount who led that. The Second Spectrum data tracks players' movement on and off the ball and allows us to calculate pressing involvements. A counter-pressure is defined as a pressure that begins within two seconds of the opponent gaining the ball.
Mount counter-pressed Fulham on 23 occasions at Old Trafford on Friday evening, three more than any other player to feature in the Premier League on the opening weekend. That is a remarkable statistic given he was substituted soon after the hour mark.
"We kept them under pressure," said Ten Hag. "They had a lot of trouble." It needed a late goal to win it but the gap between expected goals scored and expected goals against was 1.99 in United's favour - better than in 35 of their 38 games last season.
The final result was the same as their opening fixture one year ago - a 1-0 win over modest opposition at home. But while that win over Wolves signalled some of the problems that were to come, there were positive signs here. Yes, Mount among them.
