Welcome back to the seventh week of the Premier League Ones to Watch column, a weekly piece that highlights the most notable performance of the previous matchday as well as predicting a top performer for the weekend ahead. This column is made for West Coast fans, as I help you decide which games you should wake up for by identifying the players who are worth the price of admission, so to speak.
Another week, another group of great performances from the biggest stars that of course included a monster week from Mohamed Salah.
Salah helped lead Liverpool to a 3-1 win against last place Southampton with two penalty goals on the weekend. With several other games this week being low-scoring, Liverpool’s three-goal performance stood out from the rest, with Salah leading the way again.
This performance now takes him to 27 goals on the season alongside his 17 assists. He is still on pace to break the all-time goal contributions record in a single season, currently held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, who recorded 47 goal contributions each when the Premier League still had a 42-game season. Salah, meanwhile, sits at 44 goals and assists in only 29 matches.
Even more impressively, Salah could potentially break the individual goal-scoring and assist records. The single-season goals record is held by Erling Haaland, who notched 36 goals, while Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne both had 20-assist seasons. Based on Salah’s current pace, he’d tally about 35 goals and 22 assists assuming he doesn’t miss a game.
Moving away from Salah’s surreal form, two other performances of note this week came from Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke. They both scored and helped defensively in each of their sides victories this week. But neither compares to Salah’s continued heroics.
Looking ahead to next week, there are several big Premier League games worth watching, but this week has a special twist with the Carabao Cup final taking place on Sunday. With trophies being such a key aspect of the sport, this week will focus solely on the final, so I’m dubbing this edition “Finals Week.”
The Carabao Cup final, also known as the League Cup, will be played at the iconic Wembley Stadium, featuring the mighty Salah and his reigning Carabao Cup champion Liverpool side and a column favorite in Alexander Isak and his underdog Newcastle United team.
For the underdog Newcastle, a win on Sunday would see the Magpies win their first major trophy since 1955. They previously made the Carabao Cup final just two years ago, losing to Manchester United 2-0. Along with Newcastle’s hope to break the club’s 70 year-wait for a trophy, a win on Sunday would give Newcastle its first-ever Carabao Cup in club history.
On the opposing end, Liverpool will hope to continue its dominance in the Carabao Cup and defend the title at Wembley this weekend. The Merseyside club won the competition last year against Chelsea following a 118th winner from Virgil Van Dijk. Liverpool is also the most successful team in competition history with 10 Carabao Cup trophies to their name.
When it comes to a cup final, the style of play is always extremely different to normal league matchups. Teams are typically much more careful in their approach, making it harder to predict the best players in these games. However, identifying players with big game history usually helps.
Three players from Liverpool who could stand out are Liverpool’s biggest stars: Van Dijk, Alisson and, of course, Salah. Van Dijk scored the winner in the club’s last appearance in a final and is one of the best defenders in the world. With his help, Liverpool has a chance to shut down Isak. Alisson being one of the best goalkeepers in the world also can help contribute to limiting Isak’s chances in front of goal. Following Alisson’s incredible performance against PSG last week, it’d be silly to discount him as a potential difference-maker. Saving the best for last, let’s briefly discuss Salah. As he goes for his third Carabao Cup win with Liverpool, his record-breaking performances probably make him a safe bet to produce a big game in the final.
Newcastle boasts a team full of quality players as well. The midfield pairing of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali could provide the level of class and solidity needed to finally break the club’s long trophy drought. If Newcastle is to win this game, manager Eddie Howe needs a certain level of control in the midfield that will only come if Guimaraes and Tonali play up to their level. Beside the midfield, Newcastle’s star man Isak needs to come through with a massive performance with Newcastle’s other chief attacking threat, Anthony Gordon, being suspended for the final. There are very few players in the world who have what it takes to break down Liverpool’s defense on their own, but with Isak being one of them, Newcastle stand a chance to win some silverware.
When it comes to a result prediction, this match will be very close. Both teams will aim to be compact and capitalise on their chances throughout. Due to Liverpool’s pedigree, though, and Salah’s absurd form, Liverpool is much more likely to pull away and win this match. Plus, new manager Arne Slot will definitely be motivated to capture an appetizer trophy ahead of a likely Premier League title to come in May.
Newcastle definitely have a team capable of winning this competition, but ultimately the experience of Liverpool in this competition will prove to be too much.
Looking back at last week’s predictions, many of them were successful. Salah, who I picked as the one to watch, performed yet again, as discussed. It was an easy pick, but he lived up to his billing. Additionally, Heung-Min Son also managed to score an equalizing penalty against Bournemouth, making him another successful pick. Lastly, Yankuba Minteh also played well in Brighton’s 2-1 victory against Fulham, although didn’t quite register a goal or assist, making it an almost perfect week of predictions.