Why Salah is still the king of the penalty box

The standout performance of the Premier League weekend came from Antoine Semenyo, player of the match in Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday. He scored one goal but caused Kyle Walker many more problems than that.

“He has been playing very well all the season,” said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola of Semenyo afterwards. “I think we demand him a lot because I think he can give a lot, and today probably he scores and everyone gives him more recognition.”

It is almost three years since a player – Adama Traore, predictably – completed six dribbles in a Premier League game against City. Semenyo’s showing coupled with the victory justified Iraola’s surprise move to switch his winger to the left for this game.

The decision was not made to target Walker. “It was more defensive minded because we decided the job defensively that the right winger had to do was more difficult.” While Marcus Tavernier focused on that, Semenyo was free to cause problems for City.

Not that his own defensive work is unimpressive. Semenyo actually ranks third in the Premier League for possessions won in the attacking third of the pitch. As for shots taken, only Erling Haaland has more of them than the Ghanaian so far this season.

While a third of those shots have been from outside the box, the only wide forward with a higher expected-goals total than Semenyo this season is Mohamed Salah. In this form, perhaps it is no surprise that Liverpool have been linked with a move for him.

Salah still the penalty-box king

Of course, Salah himself remains the master. He curled in a beautiful goal of his own to win the game for Liverpool against Brighton at Anfield. Now 32, Salah retains that rare and remarkable ability to find time and space in the opposition penalty area.

Salah is a fine finisher when in form and is outperforming his expected-goals total this season. But when trying to explain what makes him special, this is not it. Salah’s last 130 Premier League goals have been scored from an expected-goals figure of 129.86.

In other words, he scores exactly the number of goals that you would expect someone to score given the quality of the chances that he gets. What does make him special is that he gets so many chances because he gets on the ball in the box like nobody else.

Salah has had 96 touches of the ball in the opposition box this season, far more than any other player in the Premier League. He has taken top spot back from Bukayo Saka who led this metric last season. But Salah topped it for the previous six seasons too.

Since signing for Liverpool in the summer of 2017, Salah has had 2261 touches of the ball in the opposition penalty box, which is almost twice as many as any other player except Raheem Sterling – and it is over 600 more touches than him. It is astonishing.

Ballon d’Or winner Rodri may have the most touches of anyone on the pitch but in the box, it is Salah who is still king. If he can continue to defy the ageing process and find ways of creating space for himself in there, expect the magic moments to keep coming.

Caicedo coming good at Chelsea

Chelsea’s draw at Manchester United was a scrappy affair short on quality, although Moises Caicedo did come out of it with the player of the match award and his reputation enhanced. It was his volley low into the corner of the net that earned Chelsea a point.

There were times last season when Caicedo appeared burdened by that £115m fee that Brighton were paid for his services, seemingly dragged down by the malaise at Stamford Bridge. One year on and we are starting to see the talent that sparked the transfer.

“Players are human beings,” said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca. “It is normal to have little ups and downs. Since we arrived, Moi is improving a lot. We are trying to spend time with him, and all the rest also, to try and improve them. Moi is showing how good he is.

“Most of the time in football, one plus one is not two. Because he was so good at Brighton, that does not mean that when he joins Chelsea he is automatically going to be as good as he was at Brighton. He needs a little bit more time to adapt.”

Caicedo, who turned 23 on Saturday, now leads the Premier League for tackles made this season. He also ranks in the top 10 for interceptions, possession won in the middle third of the pitch and possession won in the final third of the pitch for that matter.

With confidence, his work on the ball is becoming tidier. Early in his Chelsea career, he was targeted in the build-up. Now, Maresca is trusting him in that role, collecting the ball from defenders. Belatedly, he is becoming the player they thought they had signed.

Previously in The Debrief

GW1: Salah’s sprints, Saka’s one-on-ones, Mount’s pressing
GW2: Calvert-Lewin’s runs, Odegaard’s pressing, Pereira’s corners
GW3: De Bruyne’s position, Gravenberch’s runs, Dawson’s return
GW4: Nuno’s masterclass, Duran’s strike rate, Nketiah’s shooting
GW5: Diaz’s finishing, Traore’s end product, Archer’s issues
GW6: McNeil’s role, Kulusevski’s creativity, Gravenberch’s carrying
GW7: Saka’s creativity, Kovacic’s shooting, Mitoma’s return to form
GW8: Rashford’s form, Buonanotte’s tackling, Gvardiol’s passing
GW9: Palmer’s positioning, Iwobi’s passing, Savinho’s box entries