Mo Salah vs Luis Suarez: two Liverpool greats but one comes out on top ahead of Atletico Madrid clash

They're two Liverpool greats who are held in the highest esteem by supporters.

When it comes to an all-time greatest Anfield XI, it's hard not to argue that Mo Salah and Luis Suarez should both be in the team.

Over the past decade, Kopites will feel blessed to have had the chance to watch two remarkable talents, who both surpassed expectations, on display.

Suarez moved to Merseyside from Ajax for £22.8 million in January 2011 before exiting for Barcelona three-and-a-half years later. The Reds made a tidy profit, with the Spanish giants paying £65 million.

Salah, meanwhile, joined Jurgen Klopp's men from AS Roma for a then club-record fee of £36.9 million in the summer of 2017. He's been magnificent since his arrival and continues to mesmerise.

The duo will go head to head this evening when Liverpool travel to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

And in the build-up, there will be plenty of debate about whose Anfield legacy is greater.

Both sides of the argument will have their supporters. We take a look at both of their Liverpool records.

Goals

Suarez was a prolific scorer for the Reds.

From his debut against Stoke when he came off the bench, he started as he meant to go on by netting to wrap up a 2-0 win.

In total, he bagged 82 goals in 133 matches. Thirty-one of his efforts arrived in the 2013-14 season when he almost carried Brendan Rodgers' side to the Premier League title, only two finish two pointed behind Manchester City.

His goal per game ratio was 0.62 per game.

Salah is ever so slightly behind Suarez in that category.

The former Chelsea forward has notched 135 goals on Merseyside in 213 appearances, which works out at 0.63 goals per game.

He's hit 20 each season he's been at the club and is well on the way to achieving that this term. Salah’s best effort was his maiden campaign when he plundered an outstanding 44 goals in all competitions.

Assists

A reason why the duo are is not just because of their goalscoring but their creativity to boot.

Both Suarez and Salah are geniuses when it comes to engineering chances for others.

In terms of creating goals alone, the former has the edge. He recorded 47 assists at an average of 0.38 per game.

Salah, meanwhile, has 48 to his name and but that’s at a rate of 0.25 per 90 minutes. His latest for Sadio Mane’s opening goal in the 5-0 thrashing of Watford on Saturday was truly wonderful.

Silverware

When it comes to trophies won at Anfield, there's little competition between the two.

For all of Suarez's magic and brilliance, he had little to show for it in terms of winners' medals.

The only prize he claimed at Liverpool was the League Cup in 2012.

The Reds reached the FA Cup final that same season, while they were runners up in the Premier League two years later.

Salah, in contrast, has won the two biggest prizes he possibly could have.

The Champions League was claimed in 2019, having been beaten in the final the previous season, before a first top-flight title was claimed a year later.

He's also helped the Super Cup and Club World Cup be added to the trophy cabinet.

Games missed

Remarkably, Saah has rarely been injured for Liverpool.

The latter has missed a total of just five games for the Reds because of setbacks.

Suarez was similar when it came to time on the treatment table. However, suspensions were his infamous downfall.

The Uruguay international was absent for 25 games, per Transfermrkt, with the majority because of suspension.

The racial abuse towards Manchester United's Patrice Evra got Suarez an eight-game ban while he was barred from playing for 10 games after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

In contrast, Salah has only ever been booked six times - with half of those for taking his shirt off when celebrating.

What's been said

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is adamant Salah is currently the best player in the world right now.

After the 5-0 demolition of Watford on Saturday, Hornets boss Claudio Raniere concurred. As did the likes of Kop icon Jamie Carragher.

That was a crown Suarez could never be awarded at Liverpool. Granted, he deserved to be in the conversation given his feats when playing alongside the likes of Iago Aspas, Aly Cissokho, Joe Allen and an ageing Kolo Toure.

What’s more, he was unlucky that the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo battle was at its peak. Even at Barca, he was in Messi and Neymar’s shadow.

There’s no doubt that Salah's rubbing shoulders with far better team-mates at Anfield. Had Suarez been alongside Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Co. then who knows what he and Liverpool might have achieved.

But Salah's helped take the Reds to rejoin the European elite - something Suarez couldn't quite do.

After Liverpool's 5-1 defeat of Porto last month, the Salah vs Suarez debate was discussed in the BT Sport studio.

Rio Ferdinand was a staunch Salah supporter.

He said: “I'd take Mo Salah. What he's done in the last four seasons, top goalscorer in each of the past four seasons and top goalscorer again this season, I think he's immense.

“The icing on the cake is he's an integral part of a team who's won big trophies.

“He's been integral in that. He's won the Premier League and Champions League.

“He's a joy to watch - an absolute assassin in and around the box. I can't look past him in the modern era.”

However, Michael Owen was in the Suarez camp if he could have either for one season only.

He said: “The question was: Who would you have for one season, right?

“Well the season Luis Suarez played under Brendan Rodgers [the 2013-14 campaign ], I've never seen anything like it in my life. As a one-off season, was unbelievable.

“On a one-off season, I've never seen anything like it. Thirty-one goals and 17 assists.”

Verdict

Is there a right or wrong answer? Probably not.

No Kopite would take umbrage if you picked either/or. The pair’s legacies are etched into Liverpool folklore.

However, it’s Salah who has played a major part in transforming the Reds.

Suarez nearly did so and things could have been so different had he not left for Barca. Perhaps world-class players would have come to Anfield to join him rather than vice versa when he jumped ship to the Nou Camp.

Salah was one of the final pieces of Klopp’s jigsaw, joining after the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

However, had he not been firing on all cylinders in his first season, would Virgil van Dijk have chosen Anfield in January 2018? Perhaps not. He had other suitors all coveting his signature.

Then would Alisson and Fabinho have moved to the Reds the following summer after the Champions League final loss to Real Madrid? Klopp’s side wouldn’t have got to Kiev without Salah and then van Dijk.

Everyone who has joined Liverpool has done so with a target of winning major trophies. Salah was at the fulcrum of catapulting Klopp’s outfit to that position.

Supporters are desperate for the Reds to tie the Egypt international down to a longer contract, with his current deal expiring in 2023.

Should he do so and continue his barnstorming form, there might not even be an argument in a few years’ time between himself and Suarez.