Sourya Ghosh

The Mo Salah FPL Mandate, Does the Liverpool Asset Remain a Must Buy?

Fantasy Premier League, Liverpool, Mohamed Salah

Jurgen Klopp’s side recently finished their pre-season outing in Germany providing many talking points from an FPL perspective with many fantasy managers going without any Liverpool assets at the start of the season including without Mo Salah.

Four-goal involvements in two matches in Germany between Salah and Nunez are surely something to keep an eye on for the FPL managers but for now, the high price and a lack of consistency as FPL assets in the previous season have meant FPL managers are still not hot on the Reds assets.

Salah has been ever present as an FPL asset in every manager’s squad since his first season with the Reds. However, this autonomy has been recently lost by the £12.5m priced midfielder.

The Egyptian’s high price, consistent poor performance by Liverpool combined with the inclusion of Erling Haaland (£14m) and the rise of midfield mid-priced assets such as Saka (£8.5) and Rashford (£9m) and Martinelli (£8m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) has meant a downward in ownership for the likes of assets like Salah and England captain Harry Kane (£12.5m).

Salah’s ownership at the time of writing stands at a meager 24.5% in comparison to the lofty percentage of ownership he generally sees.

The argument of City having a terrific set of first six fixtures meaning there will be no need to captain Salah in that period and therefore the price tag remains unjustified with better value elsewhere will be thrown very quickly out the window if Liverpool as a team and Salah himself finds rhythm and a good start.

At only 24.5% percent ownership the Egyptian is almost a differential in the game right now and a good set of returns with the low EO (Effective Ownership) is going to propel ranks for the owners.

The argument therefore of going with or without Mo Salah eventually comes down to this. Liverpool is a good side as a team, and they will be expected to finish 2nd or 3rd in the Premier League.

Irrespective of where they play, someone like a Mo Salah is expected to provide in between a point range of 230-280 points. Similar goes for someone like Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Scouser will be expected to provide 160 points and higher.

The decision therefore comes down to an individual FPL manager and playing styles, that if there is complete faith in the consistency of the flow of points in Liverpool assets. Instead of investing the budget in Mo Salah if there are better mid-priced assets where the same value can be used in.

These assets will then not only be expected to match Salah but outdo him as two players. Owing to the high prices, Liverpool players as FPL assets cannot be judged in isolation but rather with other factors and scenarios to come to a decision.