Every week we round up the best performances from Arab footballers in the Premier League.
Mohamed Salah has been leading that charge for quite a while, and he was at it again this week, scoring against Arsenal in Liverpool‘s thrilling 3-3 draw at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez‘s resurgence is continuing, with his form hitting 2015/16 levels and justifying the interest in him from some of Europe’s leading clubs even after a somewhat poor season last year.
Read that and more in this week’s Arab football round-up.
MOHAMED SALAH
Nothing can stop Salah from scoring at the moment – except for himself. Against Arsenal, he scored once, but he probably should have had a hat-trick. The Egyptian passed up a couple of good opportunities to add to his tally, and those missed chances would come back to haunt Liverpool, who let a 2-0 lead slip when they probably should have been out of sight.
Still, that’s now 15 league goals for Salah, although he’s no longer the sole leading scorer; he now has to share top spot with Harry Kane – who, unlike Salah, did score a hat-trick this weekend. Fine margins.
Basic stats
Goals – 1
Assists – 0
Shots – 4
Shots on target – 3
Pass Accuracy – 78%
Key Passes – 1
Dribbles – 2
Touches – 56
VERDICT: 8/10
Salah scored once, but could have been more clinical in front of goal.
RIYAD MAHREZ
There are now only three players in the Premier League to have registered more assists than Mahrez this season, after the Algerian set up Jamie Vardy for Leicester City’s opening goal against Manchester United. It was yet another demonstration of how rejuvenated the player is under new manager Claude Puel, who has a history of coaxing the best out of underperforming players. Leicester may have been a little lucky to get a draw against United, but that they did owed a lot to Mahrez’s work on his flank, keeping United’s defence busy whenever he had the ball.
Basic stats
Goals – 0
Assists – 1
Shots – 3
Shots on target – 1
Pass Accuracy – 86%
Key Passes – 3
Dribbles – 1
Touches – 72
VERDICT: 7/10
Riyad Mahrez put in another solid performance against Manchester United.
RAMADAN SOBHI
It hasn’t been a particularly satisfying season for Ramadan Sobhi so far, as he’s largely been restricted to cameo appearances for a Stoke City side that has been struggling for form. But on Saturday, Sobhi sealed a much-needed win for his side, against West Brom, with an injury-time goal that killed the visitors’ chances of completing a comeback from 2-0 down. That should give a huge boost to Sobhi’s confidence, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if Mark Hughes calls upon him more often as Stoke bid to get away from the relegation dogfight they’ve been sucked into.
Basic stats
Goals – 1
Assists – 0
Shots – 1
Shots on target – 1
Pass Accuracy – 50%
Key Passes – 1
Dribbles – 0
Touches – 32
VERDICT: 7/10
Sobhi secured a much-needed win for Stoke City on Saturday.