There are sounds you hear at football matches which only really belong there.
One of them is the noise thousands of people make when they jump to their feet almost – but not quite – as one.
That moment when you just know that something good is going to happen, and you need a better view.
The shuffle of feet, the clatter of seats snapping upwards, the murmur of anticipation and the calls of encouragement. Glorious stuff.
While attacking moves can unfold in all manner of ways, the sight of a player dribbling at pace with the ball towards the opposing goal is one of the methods most likely to elicit this response from a crowd.
Fortunately for Kopites, their side currently possesses two of the top players for making things happen after carrying the ball forward.
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Opta define a carry as “the player moving the ball five metres or more,” and a new article on The Analyst highlights the players from Europe’s big five leagues who most frequently turn such actions into shots and chances created, goals or assists.
The leading player for goal involvements in 2021/22 at present is Mohamed Salah, and perhaps most impressively he has doubled his final total of five from last season.
He’s also only short of his personal best in the Premier League, which inevitably occurred in his first season with the Reds.
Six of his 10 involvements in this campaign have seen him score and the goals in question have featured in some very high-profile matches.
Perhaps the most notable was his goal of the season contender in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City, which came after he’d left several hundred million pounds-worth of talent scrabbling around on the Anfield turf.
Salah also scored following carries against Manchester United and Chelsea, giving him three such goals in the mini-league of England’s big six clubs this season.
*RATE THE LIVERPOOL PLAYERS FOR INTER MILAN LOSS:
Aside from Kevin De Bruyne, who has four, no player has more big game goals (excluding penalties) than this full stop this season, never mind specifically after carrying the ball at least five metres.
And while not a big game in the top end of the table sense, his strike on the break at Goodison Park in December, having dribbled roughly half the length of the pitch, was just as important to Liverpool supporters.
Salah’s other two post-carry goals were memorable too. One was at Watford, where he displayed his dribbling prowess to similar effect as he had against City.
The other was in the recent home over Norwich, in which he received a long pass from Alisson Becker and had to work a yard of space on the edge of the box before rolling the ball casually into the net.
The Egyptian’s tally of four assists following carries is his best ever return in a Premier League campaign.
City feature once again, as Salah teed up Sadio Mane for the opener after dribbling from near the half way line and deep into opposition territory.
The opening goal in the unforgettable 5-0 win at Old Trafford was created for Naby Keita by Salah carrying the ball forward before playing it to the Guinean too.
The other two assists provided by Liverpool’s number 11 following a dribble also opened the scoring, against Brighton and Wolves respectively (with the latter being a Divock Origi winner in injury time).
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have each created three opening goals in the league this season, yet Salah can top that even if we exclude his two which didn’t happen after he’d first carried the ball.
As impressive as this all is, the Reds have a man who can top Salah for both shot and goal involvements following carries this season: Luis Diaz.
Granted, most of them occurred in the Primeira Liga with Porto, but his rate per 90 minutes for shot involvements in England is ahead of any of the top men in the Premier League, even Salah.
With dribblers this skilful on either flank, sounds of anticipation and excitement will be heard at Anfield plenty more times before the season is out.
