Peter Crouch backs Mohamed Salah to do something only one Premier League player has in 17 years
01/03/2025 06:15 AM
We've hit the halfway point of the season, and we've seen enough from most of the big movers and shakers to make some predictions for the end of the season.
Liverpool have been tipped to win the league by David Seaman while Gary Neville believes Arsenal can win the title still.
Away from the title race, we can already make some predictions about which players will be winning the key individual honours come the end of the season.
Rodri won the Ballon d'Or for his performances last season, becoming the first Premier League player in 17 years to win the Golden Ball.
Rodri is now in talks for a new contract at Manchester City, but after his season-ending injury, he won't be retaining his Ballon d'Or trophy.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Peter Crouch has now shared his prediction for who will win the Ballon d'Or, and he's tipped Mohamed Salah to win the award.
Mohamed Salah tipped for Ballon d'Or win
Crouch shared a number of predictions for the remainder of this season.
The pundit said that Liverpool will win the Premier League, while he thinks Erling Haaland will win the Golden Boot.
However, despite expecting Haaland to overtake Salah in the Premier League goalscoring charts, Crouch does believe that Salah will take the Ballon d'Or this year.
Salah has been tipped for the Ballon d'Or by Shaka Hislop too, and it's fair to say that he looks like he could be in pole position to win this honour.
Salah compared to other Ballon d'Or contenders
Crouch is right to single Salah out as a potential Ballon d'Or winner, but there are plenty of players across Europe vying for the same prize.
Indeed, this has been a season packed full of quality performances from players across the continent, and the numbers show just how brilliant some of these stars have been.
That said, statistically, Salah still appears to be the best of the bunch.
| Ballon d’Or contenders | Games | Goals | Assists |
| Mohamed Salah | 26 | 21 | 17 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 24 | 23 | 2 |
| Erling Haaland | 25 | 19 | 1 |
| Viktor Gyokeres* | 24 | 27 | 3 |
| Vinicius Jr | 19 | 13 | 6 |
| Harry Kane | 19 | 20 | 6 |
| Cole Palmer | 19 | 12 | 6 |
| Raphinha | 25 | 17 | 8 |
| Kylian Mbappe | 22 | 12 | 3 |
| Lamine Yamal | 21 | 6 | 11 |
Salah is playing for the team that is top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League, and if Liverpool can claim one, or both, of those major honours, he could be the Ballon d'Or winner.
With no major international tournaments on the horizon this year, club form will take precedence, and Salah's performances for Liverpool have been right up there with the best players in the world.
