Liverpool’s Big Three - Are they still playing at an elite level?

Liverpool are on the cusp of a second Premier League title in 5 years, but the biggest story lines at Anfield surround Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Virgil van Dijk as their contracts are set to run out at the end of the season. We delve into the PFF FC grades and metrics to look deeper at these 3 players over the past two years, to see if the contract situation has been a hinderance on their performance, or has the introduction of Arne Slot pushed them to new heights?

Mohamed Salah: On the verge of the greatest Premier League season ever?

At this point in the season, we have run out of superlatives for Mohamed Salah, he leads the league with 27 goals and 17 assists. At a first look you would have to think that the contract situation has not affected Salah in the slightest, so let’s look at his numbers compared to last year.

Salah is just one of two players to have an 80+ grade in shooting, passing, crossing and dribbling, with the other being Cole Palmer.

Salah has generated a shooting grade of 87.7 (2nd among wingers/attacking mids, 7th overall) and has taken 106 shots, with 53 on target (1st and 2nd among all players). Of his 27 goals this season, 19 of them have been deemed unsavable. This is the most in the Premier League and 5 more than Erling Haaland, who sits in 2nd with 14. Lastly, of players who have taken 25 shots this season, 26.7% of Salah’s shots are positively graded, 2nd behind James Maddison. Even when Mo Salah is not scoring, he is making keepers work.

While Salah’s passing has slightly declined from 2023-24, he remains a top-20 passer with an 83.6 grade (10th among wingers/attacking mids, 18th overall). His creativity is unmatched, he leads the league in passes leading to a dangerous position (127), a half-chance (16), and a clear chance (11).

Salah has also elevated his crossing game, improving by 20 points to an 83.5 grade (4th among wingers/attacking mids, 8th overall). Though not a high-volume crosser (42nd in attempts, 34th in completions), his efficiency stands out with 26% of his crosses landing in a dangerous areas (15th among all players).

His biggest leap? Dribbling. A 21.7-point improvement has pushed him to an 81.3 grade (14th among wingers/AMs, 17th overall). Salah is the best in the league at driving into dangerous areas, with 30% of his dribbles creating a threat—the highest among all players.

The only question mark surrounding Mo Salah is his age, turning 33 at the end of the season, does he still have the legs for a multi-year extension in the Premier League?

One thing going for Salah is Slot’s defensive system, Salah is given license to conserve energy during a game, ranking in the bottom 10% for total distance covered and the top 90% for walking distance. But, when active in their block or press shape, he ranks in the 60th percentile in both Sprint Percentage and Sprinting Distance. So he is covering less ground than his opposite winger but still working hard to defend when asked. It’s a physical profile similar to that of Lionel Messi, preserving energy in total distance and high speed running, but still having elite acceleration when it counts. Can Liverpool afford to ‘carry’ a player in this day and age of football? His 27 goals and 17 assists tell us yes, but you can understand the difficulty of giving a player a record-breaking contract who is declining physically.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Future in Doubt, Performance Solid

Amid speculation about a Real Madrid move, Alexander-Arnold’s play has remained high-level. His passing slightly regressed but still ranks 1st among fullbacks and 15th overall (83.9 grade). He’s elite at progressing the ball, with 464 passes in the final third (3rd overall) and 161 line-breaking passes (1st among FBs, 9th overall).

Trent’s crossing, while still strong, has seen a dip—his lowest grade in four seasons. He’s generated 20 positively graded crosses (5th among FBs, 11th overall) and 7 clear chances (T-4th overall) but also leads the league in negatively graded crosses (63).

Defensively, there’s clear growth under Slot, who worked with Trent in the preseason to review footage and show where he could improve. His defending dribbles grade improved by 17 points, and his tackling grade rose by 7 points from last season. He has successfully defended 40 dribbles, 12 more than last year, with nearly identical minutes played. His tackle success rate has jumped from 40.7% to 46.9%. Something we’ve always maintained at PFF FC is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is much better at challenges than people give him credit for, it’s his positioning which can let him down at times. Under Slot his positional mistakes per 90 has reduced from 3.30 to 2.94, an improvement of 10.9%.

Virgil van Dijk: Still the Best?

Liverpool’s captain remains a defensive rock, anchoring the second-best backline in the Premier League. His passing is pivotal—he leads all players in total passes (2,020, 91.3% accuracy) and ranks 5th in line-breaking passes (196) and 12th in switch passes (21). His 83.8 overall passing grade ranks 2nd among CBs, and 16th overall.

While his aerial duel grade (91.7) is down from last season’s historic 99.4, he still leads the league. He has won 112 aerial duels (9th overall) at a 68.3% success rate (2nd among players with 800+ minutes).

Defensively, VVD continues to excel. He holds an 84.2 tackle grade (4th among CBs, 10th overall), winning 47 tackles at a 55.3% rate (2nd among players with 60+ attempts). The only question mark? His defending dribbles grade (71.3)—but he’s faced just 13 dribble attempts all season, the fewest among high-minute players. This shows how good VVD is positionally, rarely exposing himself to 1on1 situations, facing just 0.4 dribble attempts per 90.

Conclusion

With Liverpool on the brink of another Premier League title, Salah, Alexander-Arnold, and Van Dijk have shown that contract uncertainties have not hindered their performances. Salah is delivering one of the greatest attacking seasons in league history, Alexander-Arnold continues to excel creatively while improving defensively, and Van Dijk remains the backbone of Liverpool’s defense. Whether they stay or move on, their contributions this season have been vital in pushing Liverpool toward domestic glory. The coming months will determine not only the club’s silverware but also the future of its biggest stars.

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