In this column, we track the best Arab football talents plying their trade in the Premier League and round-up their accomplishments every week.
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is never far from the headlines after a series of devastating displays for the Reds, and he features this week despite Jurgen Klopp side’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez provided an assist in Leicester’s 2-1 win away to Swansea and Sofiane Boufal scored a stunning goal in Southampton’s 1-0 win over West Brom.
Here’s a look at how these Arab footballers fared this weekend.
Liverpool’s best player on a humiliating day for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Scored against the run of play early in the first-half to give the visitors a fighting chance, only for Spurs to add two more to storm to a convincing win.
The Egyptian came close to adding a second after the restart only for Hugo Lloris to deny him from close range.
Minutes – 90
Goal – 1
Shots – 3
Shots on target – 3
Key Passes – 2
Passing Accuracy – 75%
Touches – 59
Passes – 28
Mohamed Salah.
Despite only entering the action after 80 minutes, the Moroccan scored a sensational goal to lead the Saints to a home win over West Brom.
Stealing possession in his own half, Boufal cut through the heart of the Baggies defence before unleashing a powerful shot from outside the box.
Aside from his match-winning strike, he boasted more successful dribbles than any other Saints player with just 10 minutes on the pitch.
Minutes – 10
Goal – 1
Shots – 1
Shots on target – 1
Key Passes – 1
Passing Accuracy – 100%
Touches – 19
Passes – 10
Sofiane Boufal.
The Algerian looks to have rediscovered his ruthless form in recent weeks, and built on recent solid performances to set up both goals in Leicester’s win over Swansea.
The Foxes created all the chances early on and took the lead when Federico Fernandez headed the ball into his own net after Mahrez’s cleverly-weighted cross in the 25th minute.
The visitors doubled their advantage after the break when Mahrez released Shinji Okazaki to slot the ball home from close range.
Apart from his two vital contributions, the 26-year-old showed pace, purpose and some neat trickery to trouble the Swans defence.
Minutes – 86
Assists – 1
Shots – 1
Shots on target – 0
Key Passes – 2
Passing Accuracy – 86.2%
Touches – 52
Passes – 29
Riyad Mahrez.
