Liverpool's Most Creative Duo Outdoing De Bruyne and Haaland

Liverpool's tactical tweaks under Arne Slot mean their most potent Premier League combinations have changed since the end of the Jürgen Klopp era

Seven minutes was all it took. Liverpool’s most creative combination in the 2024/25 Premier League, at least by the hugely simplistic outcome-driven measure of assists, is Mohamed Salah to Luis Díaz, with two goals. Only three pairings across the division have more.

This highpoint in Egyptian-Colombian relations occurred entirely between the 35th and 42nd minutes of the Reds’ 3-0 win at Manchester United. Salah’s first assist for Díaz was against the same opponent, in 2022, with the only other one at Stamford Bridge in the opening match of last season. It’s a combo built for big games.

Yet despite sharing the pitch for 552 minutes in all competitions, those two chances are the only ones fashioned by Liverpool’s number 11 for their number seven in the Arne Slot era. If you’re not going to link up often, at least make it iconic.

Remarkably, the last of the two chances Díaz has set up for Salah in 2024/25 also became a goal, against Brentford. It’s a hit rate which cannot possibly be sustained. Four chances fashioned as a pairing isn’t huge either; prior to Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, Opta noted that Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke led the standings for this season with 15 chances created as a duo.

There was no context provided for the expected goals the pair have generated together. FBRef’s goal data shows that three of the four that have been converted were worth at most 0.07 xG, so their total may not be huge. According to a Soccerment tweet from June, the top combination in Europe’s top five leagues last season for expected assists per 90 minutes was Kevin De Bruyne to Erling Haaland, on 0.25.

Liverpool had three pairings on that chart, all of which included Darwin Núñez. However, the Uruguayan hasn’t featured much this term. He has only set up or taken five shots in total in the league, even having matches in which he didn’t fire off a single goal attempt, an unthinkable scenario prior to 2024/25.

It was inevitable that partnerships would evolve from the Jürgen Klopp era, with Slot tweaking both the formation and the way in which the team plays. With Núñez contributing less while the Díaz/Salah show flickers brightly in bursts, which duo has generated the most chances or expected goals for the club this season? The pair in question may even be capable of matching De Bruyne and Haaland.