The Scout analyses Mohamed Salah’s (£14.5m) start to 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League in Liverpool’s new 4-2-3-1 formation.
Salah needed a last-minute penalty against Burnley to reward the 3.8million managers who handed him the captaincy in Gameweek 4.
Although those backers ultimately earned 18 points, thanks to the Egyptian's nine-point score being doubled, Salah’s display at Turf Moor was still somewhat concerning.
Arne Slot’s side had 27 shots on Sunday afternoon but Salah’s spot-kick was his only attempt on goal. He also created just one chance for his team-mates in the 1-0 win.
Having steered Liverpool to the title in his first season in charge, Slot has clearly looked to address their over-reliance on Salah for 2025/26.
The Egyptian was involved in 47 of the Reds' goals last season, scoring 29 and assisting a further 18. To put that into context, his nearest rival was Luis Diaz, who was involved in 20 goals.
To help to spread the load, Florian Wirtz (£8.4m) and Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) were signed earlier this summer and have started alongside Salah and Cody Gakpo (£7.7m) in all four of the opening Gameweeks, plus the Reds' Community Shield encounter with Crystal Palace.
The Reds have also added Alexander Isak (£10.4m) to the ranks, lifting the likelihood of rotation for the lone striker role.
How Salah's goal threat compares with team-mates
As the table below shows, Gakpo is Liverpool's leading player for both shots and shots in the box. Indeed, his total of 11 shots is more than TWICE the total of Salah's five.
When it comes to big chances - situations where the player is expected to score - it's Ekitike who takes top spot with two. Salah's only big chance in the first four Gameweeks was his penalty against Burnley.
Having scored two goals, Salah has a shot conversion rate of 40 per cent, which is clearly unsustainable over the course of a full season.
Liverpool's front four compared GW1-4
| Player | Shots | Shots in box | Shot conversion rate | Big chances |
| Ekitike | 7 | 5 | 28.6% | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salah | 5 | 5 | 40.0% | 1 |
| Gakpo | 11 | 7 | 9.09% | 0 |
| Wirtz | 7 | 4 | 0% | 0 |
Scroll across to see the full table
How Salah's creative stats compare with team-mates
Similarly to the shot statistics, both Gakpo and Wirtz have created more chances than Salah - the pair have both produced eight compared with the Egyptian's five.
Added to his own 11 shots, this means Gakpo has been involved in 19 shots - nine more than Salah, whose total of 10 here is the LOWEST of Liverpool's front four.
Where the Egyptian does have the edge over his team-mates is big-chance (BC) involvement.
He's created three of them and, added to his penalty, this means he has played a part in four big chances, which equals the combined total of Liverpool's other three attackers.
Liverpool's front four compared GW1-4
| Player | Chances created | Shot inv. | BC created | BC inv. |
| Salah | 5 | 10 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ekitike | 4 | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| Gakpo | 8 | 19 | 2 | 2 |
| Wirtz | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Scroll across to see the full table
How does Salah's start compare with previous seasons?
By assessing Salah's displays so far this season against those from the first four Gameweeks of his previous Fantasy campaigns, you get a better idea of the major drop in his goal threat.
In seven of his previous eight seasons, he's had at least 10 shots in the box by Gameweek 4 - TWICE his current total of five.
When it comes to big chances, Salah had at least four in each of his eight seasons by this point. This time he only has one, which was a penalty.
Similarly, his big-chance involvement of four is the lowest it's ever been. Indeed, Salah was involved in at least twice that total in each of the previous two campaigns.
Salah's stats in first four Gameweeks per season
| Season | Shots in box | BC | BC created | BC inv. |
| 2017/18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018/19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 2019/20 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2020/21 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 2021/22 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 2022/23 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2023/24 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 2024/25 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 2025/26 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Scroll across to see the full table
How does Salah compare with Haaland?
Salah's poor underlying statistics are in direct contrast to his premium-priced rival Erling Haaland (£14.1m), who has climbed to the top of the player standings with five goals for Manchester City.
The Norwegian's 19 shots and 18 shots in the box are almost FOUR times that of Salah's five, and are also league-leading totals.
Crucially, Haaland's 26.3 per cent shot conversion rate also looks very sustainable.
The disparity in big chances here shows why so many FPL managers are considering moving to Haaland.
His personal total of nine is only bettered by four CLUBS and is more than the eight of Liverpool.
Salah v Haaland attacking stats, GW1-4
| Player | Salah | Haaland |
| Shots | 5 | 19 |
|---|---|---|
| Shots in box | 5 | 18 |
| Big chances | 1 | 9 |
| Shot conversion rate % | 40% | 26.3% |
So, what should Salah owners do?
As shown by the underlying statistics, Liverpool's attackers are all offering a very similar threat in their new 4-2-3-1 formation and Salah is struggling to justify his huge price tag.
The Egyptian's goal threat in particular has plummeted when compared with his previous campaigns, while Haaland's far superior numbers suggest he is more worthy of both his high cost and the captaincy in Fantasy.
Man City's visit to Arsenal this weekend should put the brakes on an immediate move for Haaland, with Liverpool welcoming Everton to Anfield.
But after that, the fixtures are in Haaland's favour, starting with a bumper home match against promoted Burnley in Gameweek 6, when Salah visits a Palace side who have kept a clean sheet in three of their opening four matches.
Bringing in Haaland by that point has to be a priority for managers, with Salah looking increasingly likely to be the makeweight for that move.