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Liverpool pair hailed as standout Premier League players of season so far

IPSWICH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammates Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz during the Premier League match between Ipswich Town FC and Liverpool FC at Portman Road on August 17, 2024 in Ipswich, England.
-Credit: (Image: Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)


Who was the best Premier League player in the opening three weeks of the season? If you put your faith in Fantasy Football points, it's a tie between Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.

There are no prizes for guessing who we prefer around these parts, even if the likes of SofaScore and WhoScored have given higher ratings to the Manchester City man. As Salah and Haaland made six and seven goal contributions respectively, it’s understandable why they are the obvious candidates.

There are six other nominees for the Premier League’s official player of the month award for August: Bryan Mbeumo, Amadou Onana, Cole Palmer, David Raya, Bukayo Saka and Danny Welbeck. Yet there is a member of Arne Slot’s squad other than Salah whose start to the campaign has been hailed by football pundit Clinton Morrison. He has been speaking to 10bet and gave his verdict on the player of the season so far.

“It’s hard to pick one outstanding player in the Premier League after three games, so I’ll name two, and they’re both Liverpool players: Luis Diaz and Mo Salah,” he said. “I think Diaz has been brilliant."

"There was a lot of rumours about his future in the summer; a lot of talk he was going to be leaving the football club, but I think if you can get Luis Diaz playing like he has done so far this season, keep him fit, then Liverpool can have a really good crack at the title.”

“He looks so sharp. He’s quick, can beat a defender and he’s an excellent finisher,” Morrison added. The Colombian has certainly made a fine start to life under Slot.

Beyond having Liverpool’s first Opta-defined big chance of the campaign against Ipswich, Diaz didn’t contribute too much to the Reds’ 2-0 win at Portman Road. He has been largely unstoppable since though.

The 27-year-old opened the scoring in the home win over Brentford, later assisting Salah to put the game to bed when the Bees were rallying for a comeback. The Egyptian repaid the favor twice over at Old Trafford, setting up Diaz to score twice in the first half.

Having travelled to South America and back on international duty, it’s plausible the Colombian could be on the bench at Anfield on Saturday. But that doesn’t make what Morrison said about his start to 2024/25 any less true.

Liverpool.com says: It's a positive that Diaz is drawing praise from pundits as it's recognition for flying out of the traps under Liverpool's new head coach. He has yet to dominate a full season for Liverpool, so perhaps it is finally Diaz's time to shine to that extent.