After scoring back-to-back Goal of the Season contenders for Liverpool in the Premier League during the month of October, Mohamed Salah was swiftly lauded by his manager, Jürgen Klopp, as being the best striker in world football.
The claim has been given more credence than usual due to Cristiano Ronaldo playing in a sub-par Manchester United outfit and Lionel Messi being out of sorts at Paris Saint-Germain, where he must share the limelight with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
However, does that automatically make Liverpool’s Egyptian King the deadliest goal-getter in the game, or are there other worthy pretenders to the throne? Here we take a look at the Liverpool striker’s stats as well as those of his nearest rivals.
Mohamed Salah – Best in the World?
Case for the Egyptian King Ruling the World
It is safe to say that after Liverpool’s underwhelming campaign last season, Mohamed Salah has begun this one like a man possessed. This is evidenced in his stats, where after the season’s first eight games he was consistently performing far and above his predicted xG ratings when it came to both scoring goals (xG expected: 5.73 actual: 7) and registering assists (xG expected: 2.5 actual: 4).
Not a week goes by without Salah being picked by betting tipsters and media pundits to add to his goal tally, with sports bettors backing him to the hilt as a result. Moreover, the goals he scores are technically wondrous, such as the mazy run and shot that led to his goal against Manchester City at Anfield on October 3. All this means that come the end of the season, many of those top betting tipsters and their followers will be left with smiles on their faces, having predicted that Mo would be top of scoring charts and perhaps on the search for a new lucrative contract away from Merseyside.
Robert Lewandowski – Polish Goal Machine
He may not have the fast feet and trickery that Salah has, but no one can argue with the goal-scoring prowess of Robert Lewandowski, who made the net bulge a whopping 41 times in last season’s Bundesliga. At the time of writing, he is already on track to equal or better that number this term. There will always be the argument that German football is not as strong as the English or Spanish top flights, but there can still be no doubting the Pole’s goal-scoring credentials.
Karim Benzema – In From the Cold
For a long time, Benzema played second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid and he was frozen out of the French national side due to issues off the pitch. But all that has changed for him, and he is now the main man in the Spanish capital as well as being back in the good books of Didier Deschamps.
He remains a divisive figure among fans, with some loving him and others not so much, but after eight games in La Liga, he has nine goals in the bag. Need we say more!
Federico Chiesa – New Kid on the Block
He was undoubtedly the find of Euro 2020, where his jinking runs and stellar ball control helped Italy rain on England’s parade. At the age of just 23, he is already the main man at Juventus and is carrying an ordinary squad to some impressive results, such as their October triumph over Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
Erling Haaland – On Track for Greatness
It appeared for all the world that Erling Haaland would get a dream move to one of Europe’s elite clubs at the end of last season, but instead, he stuck around at Borussia Dortmund, a club he appears in loath to leave behind. His decision so far appears to be paying dividends with him being in the goals and his market skyrocketing in the process. Will someone come in for him in January? Don’t count it out.
