'Magnificent' Liverpool player has now statistically had the joint best start to a season for 35 years
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The records continue to tumble at Liverpool this season after another win in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It could hardly have been a better start to the campaign for Arne Slot, who now has eight wins from his first nine matches in charge of the Reds.
Unsurprisingly, that run represents the best ever start to life for a manager or head coach in Liverpool history. Slot is keeping some unbelievable company.
The Dutchman remained typically humble after being presented with that fact following the 2-0 win over Bologna on Wednesday, though.
Instead, Slot was keen to praise the Liverpool squad for the way they have reacted to his arrival at the club.
And while there have been some notably standout performers within that group, Mohamed Salah has just put himself head and shoulders above the rest.
Mohamed Salah equals John Barnes
After scoring three goals and providing three assists in the opening three games of the season, Salah looked ready for another world-beating campaign with Liverpool.
However, the Egyptian then went off the boil a little, recording just a single assist over the next trio of games.
From there, though, Salah has bounced back in typical fashion. During the next three, Mo has got himself a hat-trick more of goals and has set up one more for good measure.
The 32-year-old added two goal contributions to that tally on Wednesday. Salah recorded an exquisite assist for Alexis Mac Allister before burying a beautiful goal himself.
READ MORE: Man United legend Nicky Butt shares how hard John Barnes was to play against
And with that, football statistician Michael Reid says Salah equalled something not seen at Anfield for 35 years.
With five goals and five assists, Reid says the Reds’ No.11 has just matched the tally set by John Barnes in 1989.
“Mo Salah already has 5 goals and 5 assists in Liverpool’s 9 matches this season,” he writes on X.
“It’s the earliest a player has reached 5+ goals and 5+ assists into an LFC season since John Barnes did it in the club’s first 9 matches of 1989-90.”
Who was better – Barnes or Salah?
To Liverpool fans of a certain age, there is no one better than Barnes. The flying winger is one of the biggest Liverpool legends of all time.
In a lot of respects, Barnes is the player Salah can be closest compared to in Reds history.
As these numbers show, both players were goal scorers and goal creators from wide positions. But in any metric you measure, Mo has the edge.
Barnes played 407 games for the Reds, Salah is on 358 so far. In that time, the man from Kingston, Jamaica scored 108 goals and registered 101 assists.
In terms of goals, Salah wins by a landslide. The Egyptian King has 217. Barnes leads by nine for assists, but played 49 times more. If Mo is to leave at the end of this season, their appearances will be remarkably similar, but we’d back Salah to beat that one number that’s left to tumble.
