Liverpool’s five most clinical goalscorers make for interesting reading. Mohamed Salah can only come second in the rankings.
Liverpool scored goals for fun across the 2021/22 season as virtually the entire squad got in on the act. Who was the most clinical of the lot, though? Using data from the Athletic, we have a look at the top five.
[It’s worth adding that there’s a lot of other data in the Athletic’s piece that puts Liverpool’s season into numbers. Well worth a read!]Liverpool’s most clinical goalscorers of the 2021/22 season
5. Diogo Jota
Diogo Jota enjoyed a magnificent first half of the campaign but slowed down quite a bit in the second. That’s largely because Luis Diaz arrived and Liverpool moved Sadio Mané into a central role. Suddenly, Jota wasn’t quite as sure of a start.
But while that diluted his numbers this season, they remained fantastic. The Portuguese forward scored 0.53 goals per 90 across the campaign as he bagged 21 goals.
Honestly, he might do even better next time around.
4. Sadio Mané
Sadio Mané had the opposite season to Jota, really. His first half was a little slow but his second was sensational – we think Mané put in the best football of his career.
Overall, he scored 23 goals at 0.53 per 90 – so the same rate as Jota. The fact he added two more goals just moves him ahead of his teammate in this list, though.
Unfortunately, it appears we’ve seen the last goals of Mané’s Liverpool spell, though. As the numbers show, it’ll be a nightmare to replace him.
3. Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino has been the forgotten man of Liverpool’s attack this season, primarily because of injury. There’s also the fact that his teammates appear to be lining up to replace his central role, too.
And so the Brazilian only scored 11 goals this season, roughly half of the previous names on this list. However, he scored them at an average of 0.55 per 90 – a marginally better rate. That does suggest there’s more to come from Firmino and we hope to see a bigger, injury-free role next season.
2. Mohamed Salah
He might only be second on this list but there’s little doubting that Mohamed Salah has been the best goalscorer at Liverpool this season. What’s truly remarkable about it is that his scoring fell off a cliff post-AFCON and he still ended up with the Golden Boot.
And there’s a significant jump from the previous three names and Salah. He scored an average of 0.77 goals per 90, even with the drop-off in form. A sensational output from a sensational player.
1. Takumi Minamino
Now, the Athletic only included players who put in 900 minutes across all competitions. Obviously, Minamino didn’t play often enough in the Premier League or Champions League to qualify – his goals came in the cups.
The Japan international was Liverpool’s top scorer in both competitions they won this season in the EFL Cup and FA Cup. He bagged a total of 10 in total, scoring 0.88 per 90 minutes.
That’s a phenomenal rate, of course, even if several came against ‘lower’ opposition. The future at Anfield doesn’t look bright for Minamino, though. Instead of giving him a first-team chance next season, Goal report that Liverpool will try to cash-in on the back of his goalscoring form.