Did Manchester City defeat prove Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah is a flat-track bully this season?

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is no one-season wonder.

The Egyptian ace has scored 13 Premier League goals this season and assisted seven others as he picks up where he left off last season.

But Salah isn’t quite up to last year’s standards when it comes to matches against the top six when he netted seven times in the Premier League in ten appearances..

Last week, against Manchester City – in Liverpool’s first defeat of the campaign – he was unable to get on the scoresheet or create for his team-mates and touched the ball just 33 times in his 90 minutes on the pitch.

It’s been a similar story against other elite Premier League sides and in seven matches against the clubs he’s only managed one goal and one assist – both against Arsenal in the 5-1 win over the festive period.

This means against the teams outside this group he’s registered 12 goals in 14 games, while also getting six assists – which is no mean feat – but it might prove a worrying trend should Liverpool struggle in their remaining matches against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur.

His record is in contrast to Golden Boot rivals like Harry Kane – who has three goals and one assist in five games against the top six.

But he cause is helped by the fact Sergio Aguero, who netted in City’s win on Thursday night, has two goals in five, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has two goals and one assist in six.

And Eden Hazard, who has netted 10 times this season has one goal and three assists from five matches against the top six.

So while Salah’s record isn’t too far off the other elite stars gunning for this season’s Golden Boot, he’s definitely playing catch up, and definitely isn’t racking up the astonishing numbers he did last season.

But if you can score 12 in 14 against the ‘lesser’ top flight sides then then it shouldn’t matter all too much in the race for the Premier League title, should it?