Salah v Henry: Comparing two Premier League greats

The sensational form of Mohamed Salah has established the Liverpool talisman as arguably the best Premier League player of the decade. Writer Alex Keble compares all aspects of Salah's play with that of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, one of the Premier League's greatest all-time stars.

Mohamed Salah’s penalty at Anfield on Sunday against Manchester United was his 175th goal in the Premier League, moving him up to seventh in the all-time list and level with Thierry Henry.

Inevitably it prompts a comparison between two greats of the Premier League era, and unless you support Arsenal or Liverpool your preference will depend upon an aesthetic judgement - and which era appeals to you more.

See: All-time Premier League top scorers

Henry and Salah, Salah and Henry: rarely do you hear the two mentioned in the same sentence, at least partly because their playing styles could scarcely be more different.

Henry was a flair player, deft and subtle. Salah has a rawer, more straight-lined energy. Yet both share a genius when at their most artistic - as well as a clinical, venomous quality when a clutch moment is required.

But the comparison is also rarely made for a simpler reason - their respective peaks are separated by two decades.

For some that makes Salah better, immersed as he is in an era of unmatched speed and technical ability, whereas for others the passage of time gives Henry the edge as a confirmed and inarguable legend of the sport.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But the numbers - the achievements, trophies, goals and assists – can at least be counted.

Salah needs a strong 2024/25 to match Henry’s achievements

In terms of titles and individual gongs Henry leads the way...for now.

His two Premier League titles, two Premier League Player of the Season accolades and four Golden Boots awards is more than Salah has managed.

But Salah can match him on all three fronts by May, when he could pick up a second league title, a second Player of the Season award, and a fourth Golden Boot.

Right now, he is on track for all three.

Henry v Salah individual and team PL awards

Even if Salah draws level, their respective achievements aren’t necessarily equal.

Salah shared two of his three Golden Boot awards - a point for Henry - and yet Salah was also part of two 90+ point seasons at Liverpool that ended with only a runners-up medal, suggesting titles alone aren’t an accurate measure of value.

Henry was part of Arsenal’s "Invincibles", Salah the side that ended a 30-year wait for a Liverpool title. Who can say which is better?

Nevertheless by the end of the current campaign Salah and Henry will probably be exactly tied for tangible achievements.

But not for goals and assists.

Salah will score more goals, but not at a higher rate

Salah is already level with Henry for Premier League goals and still has at least four months left to add to that number.

In fact, at his 2024/25 goalscoring rate of 0.97 goals per 90 minutes, he only needs another 89 matches - or two more Premier League seasons after this one - to overtake Alan Shearer’s record of 260.

However, taking the longer view of Salah’s Premier League career, he is averaging 0.69 goals per 90 minutes, which is just below Henry’s 0.74.

Even here, then, it can be argued either way, Henry and Salah can both stake a claim as the better goalscorer.

Henry v Salah: Who has the better attacking stats?

Salah has more assists, but Henry was more creative

Assists never used to be a thing. The rise of Fantasy Football in the 1990s began the appreciation of who touched the ball last before the goalscorer, but even through the 2000s assist figures were rarely discussed when evaluating a player’s ability.

That’s why, back in 2002/03, Henry set the Premier League assist record of 20 in a campaign without anyone really noticing. He went on to assist 74 goals in total, and currently sits joint-14th in the all-time charts.

By contrast Salah’s numbers are getting plenty of attention at the moment, not least because he seems to be getting more creative with age: his whipped in-swinging crosses and outside-of-the-foot through-balls are a newish phenomenon, but fast-becoming trademark moves.

Salah has 13 assists this season, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues and is already level with his personal best return of 13 in the Premier League in 2021/22.

At the current rate, he will beat Henry’s record of 20 in a single season and go up to sixth on the all-time list.

Salah has already moved above Henry this season, with 82, although that does not necessarily mean he is the better creator.

Most assists in PL history

Part of the reason assists never used to be given much attention is because they are a basic measure of creativity; a one-yard pass and a sublime 40-yard through-ball are weighted equally.

Henry had a magical quality when it came to creating chances for team-mates, his ghosting off the front line making him one of the (uncredited) originators of the "false nine" role, albeit in a left-leaning position.

Then again Salah, though less creative in the traditional playmaker sense, has statistics that speak for themselves with 1.92 key passes per 90 minutes across his Premier League career.

Henry and Salah adored but romanticising of Salah still to come

As a former player Henry has been praised more often; has received more nostalgic recollections than Salah.

"It was embarrassing for the defenders," former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger commented. "He just scored when he wanted."

An awe-struck eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi said: "The first day that he came into the dressing room [at Barcelona], I did not dare to look him in the face. I knew everything that he had done in England."

Even George Best, one of football's great maverick talents, saw Henry as special: "I don’t recognise myself in the players I see today. There’s only one who excites me, and that is Thierry Henry.

"He’s not just a great footballer, he’s a showman, an entertainer."

No doubt similar praise will be lavished upon Salah when he eventually leaves the Premier League, but for now the best quotes about him are necessarily tempered by his career still being live.

He is a "world-class goalscorer" and "a great of the Premier League," in the words of Shearer, the competition's all-time record goalscorer.

Last month another Premier League great, speaking on Sky Sports, labelled Salah "astonishing" for how he "used his intelligence" to develop from a great goalscorer into a creative player.

It turns out Henry is as big a fan of Salah as anyone.

As we said at the beginning, whether you think Henry or Salah is the better player depends, most likely, on either your aesthetic taste or how the two eras speak to you personally.

Both are worthy, although of course there is a third way - we can choose simply to celebrate both.