Mohamed Salah vs Sadio Mane: Which of Liverpool’s superstars has the crown?
In three and a half seasons as team-mates, Mohamed Salah (£6.6m) and Sadio Mane (£5.9m) have scored 188 goals between them.
They are two of the most prominent contributors to Liverpool’s success under Jurgen Klopp having played instrumental roles in the club’s sixth European Cup win and their first league title of the Premier League era.
The Anfield faithful have the luxury of enjoying the pair as a world-class combination, but Dream Team gaffers are often forced to choose between them.
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You can, of course, install both in your forward line but that brings risk — it puts a lot of eggs into one basket.
If the Reds suffer a slight stutter in form, as they are currently with their only win in their last four games coming against Aston Villa’s schoolboys, then those with Salah and Mane are doubly punished.
With the likes of Harry Kane (£7.2m), Son Heung-min (£5.3m), Marcus Rashford (£5.3m), Raheem Sterling (£7.0m) and others offering healthy points returns, many come to the conclusion that they can only accommodate one of Liverpool’s prolific wide forwards.
It may be the case that you switch back and forth between Salah and Mane as the season progresses, depending on who is in better form.
With that being said, perhaps Salah owners would be wise to consider flipping allegiances this very moment?
The Egyptian has looked uncharacteristically toothless in recent games, at least by his exceptionally high standards.
He scored Liverpool’s fourth at Villa Park to take eight points from the extremely favourable circumstances after blanking in three consecutive fixtures against West Brom, Newcastle and Southampton.
Whereas Mane has amassed 29 points from the same four fixtures despite his side’s discouraging results — his form extends to 39 points from five if we go back to the Reds’ last league win.
The Senegal international is currently cheaper than his team-mate too, allowing bosses to spend the extra budget on an upgrade elsewhere.
Transferring Salah out always requires a degree of bravery because he’s been such a prolific performer since his return to English football.
It’s also important to remember that the 28-year-old remains Liverpool’s first-choice penalty-taker — a considerable advantage over Mane.
Truthfully, you can’t go too wrong either way, such is the quality of both players, but the very best gaffers pursue marginal gains where they can and the fact is Mane has made up 21 more points on Salah since Game Week 14.
Liverpool play Man United, Burnley, Spurs and West Ham before the end of the month, as well as an FA Cup Fourth Round tie.
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