Mohamed Salah's chances of breaking Thierry Henry's Premier League assist record have been damaged by teammates' poor misses, Reds expert David Lynch has argued.
The Egyptian was part of the Liverpool side that beat Leicester City 1-0 away from home in the Premier League on Sunday, but the Merseysideres missed all 10 of the big chances they created.
Salah failed to add to his tally of 18 league assists, meaning he remains two behind Henry and Kevin De Bruyne, who both hold the record for most goals created (20) in a single Premier League season.
Lynch told Sports Mole that Salah was let down by other players, and spoke about the difficulty of breaking the assist record, saying: "You need luck - it's happened quite a few times where someone's racked up a lot of early assists and you think they're going to break the record and then it pales away towards the end. The fact is you are at the mercy of the finishers that you're providing chances for.
"The one he crosses in for Jota at the end [against Leicester], you would have said Jota in usual form nine times out of ten would bag that. I know headed chances are more difficult than we often give them credit for, but I couldn't believe he missed that one. [Had he scored, Salah] would have been one closer to the mark so it's a real shame he didn't score."
Diogo Jota has missed 13 big chances in the top flight this season, whereas the Portuguese attacker only missed three big chances last term.
Can Salah break the record in his final five games despite poor form?
Liverpool will face Tottenham Hotspur in their next game on Sunday, and boss Arne Slot will be confident that his side can return to goalscoring form given they have already beaten the Londoners 6-3 and 4-0 earlier this season.
However, while Salah has produced three assists in his three games against Spurs in 2024-25, the winger has only registered one assist in his last six outings, and also failed to score in that period.
Lynch expressed his belief that Salah could still claim the assist record in the club's final five league matches, but he also admitted that he may need to register multiple in a single game when he told Sports Mole: "Five games is still a lot in terms of he could get a couple of assists in one game - maybe three - and in a single game it can happen and you hope it does.
"I want to see him break that record because it's been an all-time season. You want to see him get some reward for that, beyond obviously winning the Premier League which is pretty good. But I'd like to see that recognised, so hopefully he can get it or at least equal it in the remaining five games, but it's been a bit of a dry run. He could do with his colleagues in the forward areas putting some of these chances away as well."
It should be noted that Liverpool face a difficult final four games, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace to come after the Reds host Spurs at Anfield.
© Imago
Does the Reds' performance against Leicester raise concerns?
Liverpool only managed to beat Leicester thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold's late winner in the final 15 minutes, and the nature of the victory has raised concerns about the team's displays heading into the closing stages of the campaign.
The Foxes had only collected 18 points from the 32 matches prior to their defeat against Liverpool and had conceded 10 goals in their previous four fixtures.
When asked if he had any concerns about the performance, Lynch insisted that there was little to complain about, telling Sports Mole: "No, I thought it was one of those [that needs] context. People's nerves were getting involved and a bit of frustration was there throughout the game. I saw people on social media saying it's a poor performance but I didn't believe that at any point.
"Liverpool completely controlled it from start to finish, as they should against a very poor Leicester side and with Liverpool being in the position they are, but there was just no jeopardy in the game at all. You mentioned the statistics there in terms of 10 big chances created - it's zero for Leicester. They don't have a single shot on target whereas Liverpool have quite a few and 28 shots overall.
"Liverpool were in complete control and if anyone felt like Leicester had been hard done by to lose it at the end then I'd say that the reality is Liverpool were hard done by to not be three or four nil up much earlier in the game. In the end they had to wait and maybe there were nerves around the context of the game and the importance but there's absolutely no question that Liverpool deserved to win."
The Reds now only need three points to win the Premier League and supporters will not care how the team performs as long as they ultimately claim the title.
Lewis Nolan
