Premier League players to watch in GW7: Will Salah make history? | OneFootball

We’ve got one more weekend of 2024-25 Premier League action before the international break. And some players will look to enter the break on a high.

A lot of eyes have been on Erling Haaland this season, but Mohamed Salah could break a record the Norwegian is yet to achieve in the Premier League. The Egyptian is also still chasing another Premier League legend’s tally.

Meanwhile, Arsenal will be hoping their Emirates Mr Reliable can pull through for them this weekend, and a Chelsea man is looking to continue his bright start.

Mohamed Salah eyeing away history

Mohamed Salah is still one assist away from levelling Thierry Henry’s number in the Premier League. The Egyptian is currently sat on 74 in 269 appearances, while Henry recorded 75 in 258 games.

But Salah can also make Premier League history if he finds the net himself against Crystal Palace. Salah has scored in each of Liverpool‘s first three away games in the Premier League this season. He’s netted once against each of Ipswich Town, Manchester United and Wolves.

A player scoring in their team’s first four away games of a Premier League season isn’t rare, it’s been done nine times before. However, if Salah does score against Palace, he’d be the first to do so twice. Salah also scored in Liverpool’s first four away league games in the 2021-22 campaign. That run lasted five games, before Salah’s first away blank.

Kai Havertz’s home comforts

Kai Havertz continues his remarkable turnaround at Arsenal. The German is a completely different man to the one signed by Chelsea last summer, leading the line for the Gunners and scoring five goals across all competitions.

All five of Havertz’s goals have come at the Emirates, with the German netting against Wolves, Brighton, Leicester, Bolton and PSG. He also scored on the final day of the 2023-24 Premier League season at home against Everton.

Just one other player has scored in seven consecutive games at the Emirates for Arsenal. Robin van Persie achieved that feat between December 2011 and March 2012. That run saw Van Persie score against Tottenham, Man United and AC Milan.

Havertz could also become the first player to score in five straight home league games for Arsenal since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in September 2019. In five games for Chelsea against Southampton, Havertz scored three goals.

Jadon Sancho’s bright start

Another player looking completely changed — and benefitting from a move to Chelsea — is Jadon Sancho. The Englishman had a lot of struggles at Man United, failing to replicate the form which earned him his initial move from Borussia Dortmund.

Whatever the reason for the drop off, Sancho needed to leave Man United. Although it’s only initially on loan, Sancho looks to be enjoying life at Stamford Bridge. The Englishman came off the bench to set up Chelsea’s winner in their 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, earning him starts in their next two matches.

Sancho recorded an assist in both of those matches, against West Ham and Brighton respectively. He’s currently averaging 1.56 assists per 90 minutes in the Premier League, with an average xA of 0.3 per 90. And he’s already matched his best assist total in a single Premier League season.

If Sancho provides another assist against Nottingham Forest this weekend, he’ll be just the third player to assist in each of their first four games for a club in the Premier League. The only other players to do so are Cesc Fabregas, also for Chelsea, and Chris Waddle for Sunderland.

Tomas Soucek x Patrik Berger

In the Premier League’s history, 28 different players from the Czech Republic have made an appearance in the competition. The likes of Petr Cech, Patrik Berger, Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and Vladimir Smicer will spring to mind as throwback names.

Of those 28 players, 12 have scored at least one goal. Berger leads the way with 28, while Marek Matejovsky props up the list with his sole strike for Reading in 2007-08. Last weekend, Tomas Soucek moved himself to outright second in the list with his 29th goal, scored against Brentford.

It moved Soucek one clear of Milan Baros, now nine behind Berger. And if Soucek were to score this weekend, he’d be just the second Czech Republic player to reach 30 goals in Premier League history. Not bad at all for a midfielder.

West Ham face Ipswich Town this weekend, and Soucek did score against all three promoted sides in the Premier League last season.

Bryan Mbeumo hoping for Premier League first

There’s definitely a case for Bryan Mbeumo being the most-underrated player in the Premier League right now. If he isn’t number one, he’s definitely up there.

The Cameroonian has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other Brentford player, with 27 goals and 21 assists so far. Quick maths will tell you that he’s now just two goal involvements away from breaking 50.

If Mbeumo were to set up two goals this weekend, he’d also move level with Geremi for the most Premier League assists among Cameroonians. But even if Mbeumo scores just once, it will be the first time he’s scored in three consecutive league games since December 2019. That was a run of four coming in the Championship. He hasn’t scored in three consecutive matches in the Premier League.