Mohamed Salah and Sam Kerr both enjoyed outstanding domestic seasons, but who deserves to be crowned the ultimate Player of the Season? 

The Liverpool forward and Chelsea striker won the men’s and women’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, for their performances in the Premier League and Women’s Super League respectively. 

Salah became the sixth player to win the award for the second time, after Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Gareth Bale and Kevin De Bruyne. 

Meanwhile, Kerr is the first Australian player ever to claim the Player of the Year award, having helped Chelsea to a memorable domestic double. 

The question is: which of these two prolific forwards enjoyed the more stellar campaign? 

This is not a case of deciding who the better footballer is overall, or comparing the two directly, but rather to deduce which player dominated their respective league the most. 

In this way, here’s a breakdown of the all-important statistics for the two awesome attackers:

Goals

In terms of goals alone, Salah’s 23 Premier League strikes trump Kerr’s 20 in the WSL. 

However, it’s worth noting that the Australian played just 20 matches, while Salah featured in 35 games for the Reds. Kerr, therefore, averaged 1.16 goals per 90 minutes, compared to the Egyptian, who only averaged 0.75. 

Sam Kerr
KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Sam Kerr of Chelsea with the Barclays FA Women's Super League trophy after the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Chelsea Women and Manchester United Women at Kingsmeadow on May 08, 2022 in Kingston upon Thames, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Another interesting statistic is non-penalty goals. None of Kerr’s 20 goals were from the penalty spot, whereas Salah converted five spot-kicks over the course of the season. 

When looking at expected goals, it’s Kerr who emerges the winner again. The Aussie averaged 0.83 XG per game. Salah, on the other hand averaged 0.71. 

Assists

Though Kerr seemingly has the edge on Salah when it comes to goals, the Egyptian thrashes the Chelsea star in terms of assists. 

Salah registered 13 assists in total –– more than anyone else in the Premier League. Kerr, meanwhile, had just four across the campaign. 

It’s a similar story when it comes to expected assists. Kerr’s XA was 0.21 per 90 minutes, compared to Salah’s 0.34. 

Leicester City v Liverpool - Premier League
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has his penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Liverpool at The King Power Stadium on December 28, 2021 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Who’s the winner? 

On statistics alone, it’s extremely hard to determine a winner. Kerr averaged more goals per 90 minutes than the Liverpool star, but Salah produced far more goal contributions in total, when factoring in assists. 

Salah’s performances across the first half of the season were particularly impressive, but there’s no doubt the Egyptian failed to maintain this form throughout the entire campaign as Jurgen Klopp’s side narrowly missed out on winning the Premier League. 

Contrastingly, Kerr’s heroics near the end of the season inspired Chelsea to their third successive WSL title and the Australian scored a number of crucial goals at the business end of the campaign. 

Ultimately, it’s easier to lean towards Kerr as the player who was consistently outstanding throughout the entire year, though Salah was arguably the best men’s player in the world up until last Christmas. 

Either way, both players were more than deserving of the Player of the Year honours and will no doubt be in contention to scoop the same awards again next season.