Although Mo Salah doesn’t exactly have a low ownership, it pales into comparison to previous seasons where see saw him featuring in over two-thirds of all FPL squads.
There are a myriad of reasons for this. Firstly, last season saw the Egyptian score 19 Premier League goals – an impressive number by most players’ standards – but it was his joint-lowest total since joining Liverpool ahead of the 2017-18 season. Although his 13 assists contributed towards a total of 239 FPL points, better than his 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, it is goals that stick in the memory of FPL managers.
Arguably the other biggest reason is Erling Haaland. Over 90% of all FPL managers currently own the £14m-priced Norwegian, which takes up a sizeable proportion of the budget. With Salah the second priciest asset in the game, many are choosing to go with a more balanced team that excludes the Liverpool man. For the time being at least, Haaland has taken Salah’s status as the go-to captain in FPL teams, lessening the fear around not owning him.
Where once it was a near guarantee that Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino would be Liverpool’s attacking three, things aren’t quite the same now. The other two members of that famous triumvirate have since moved on to pastures new, and in through the door have come Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo. However, this shouldn’t detract FPL bosses from investing in Salah, as he is likely to be the most consistent starter in Jurgen Klopp’s attack, with the other four competing all season for a starting berth.
Salah’s owners will be hoping his ownership doesn’t creep up too high though, as he is capable of massive returns that could propel those that have put their faith in him up the rankings. Gameweek 2 sees Liverpool host Bournemouth – a fixture the Reds won 9-0 almost exactly a year ago. Salah quite unfathomably came away with zero returns in that game, but he has scored eight career goals against the Cherries, including a hat-trick back in the 2018-19 season.
Should Salah produce a double-figure return in Gameweek 2, expect his ownership to increase fairly significantly.