Data suggests ‘incredible’ Liverpool star has been unlucky this season, could soon explode into life – RTK View

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Data suggests that Sadio Mané has been unlucky this season for Liverpool. The no.10 could well explode into life soon.

Sadio Mané has had a strange season for Liverpool. He’s very much been the third-wheel, with Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota grabbing the headlines.

In fact, it’s gone a little under the radar that Mané has 12 Premier League goals this season. Only Salah and Jota boast more, and that’s with an AFCON trophy on top.

Interestingly, though, Mané has just one assist. He had seven last season and seven the year before that – it’s clearly more about goals this season. And that’s something we’ve written about before.

Mané is playing a different kind of role this season as Liverpool create primarily down their right flank. He’s become more of a finisher – and his goal tally shows it.

But data actually suggests that Mané is having quite an unlucky season. It could well be that we’ll get an even better no.10 sometime soon.

Sadio Mané – unlucky at Liverpool

Per FBref, Mané has 14.3 xG in the Premier League this season. It means he’s underperforming with his finishing this season by 2.3, given that’s the ninth-highest difference in the top flight.

Salah, in contrast, is slightly overperforming with his goals. He’s got one more than predicted – Mané would have 15 goals with a bit more luck.

And it’s the same story with assists. Mané might only have one but teammates have let him down this season. His expected assists (xA) is 3.6, meaning he’d have four with a bit of luck.

Liverpool’s top assisters – Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson – all outperform their xA. With their good fortune, Mané would have five assists, which is more in-line with what you expect from him.

The good thing here is that while things aren’t quite falling for Mané right now, that can change in an instant. His numbers may well line up by the end of the campaign, which would mean a period where he explodes into life.

We’ll cross our fingers for that, then. Mané still has time for his moment in the sun.