Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has provided more assists in the Premier League in 2022 than Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish.
Alisson set up Mohamed Salah's sublime winner against City on Sunday afternoon. The goalkeeper picked out Salah and fired the ball almost directly at him, allowing the Egyptian to turn defender Joao Cancelo and confidently slot the ball beyond City's Ederson.
Alisson now has two assists in the Premier League since the turn of the year after setting up Salah's goal in the 3-1 home win against Norwich in February. That strike was similar to the one on Sunday afternoon, as the stopper picked out Salah with a long ball.
In comparison, Grealish has assisted just one goal in the Premier League since the beginning of the year. That was in the 5-0 win against Newcastle in May, as the £100million man squared the ball to Raheem Sterling for a tap in late in the fixture.
In fairness to Grealish, Alisson does love an assist. He's scored or assisted in each of Liverpool's last four seasons - famously heading in a winner against West Brom in May 2021.
Worryingly for City manager Pep Guardiola, Grealish has scored just two goals and provided a single assist in the Premier League in 2022, despite making 15 appearances in the competition. He was left on the bench during Sunday afternoon's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool.
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Grealish is under significant pressure to impress at the Etihad following his record-breaking move from Aston Villa in the summer of 2021. He is the most expensive player in the history of British football, with only five other players commanding bigger fees globally.
Grealish discussed the criticism he's faced after scoring against Wolves last month. He said: "Rightly so [I deserve the criticism], I should be scoring more, I should be getting more assists. The only thing I can do is score and get assists.
"I’m always going to have people talking about me with the amount I got bought for but I think if you look at my whole career I probably haven’t scored as much as certain people, even when I was at Aston Villa I think I only scored 14 or 15 goals over two seasons in the Premier League.
"It’s something that I do want to add to my game and playing with this team and in front of these fans hopefully I can."
Speaking last month, Guardiola defended Grealish's time at City. "I know him and I'm more than happy and delighted with what he's doing," he said. "I don't have any doubts about him, not at all... We didn't sign him for the incredible goals or assists at Aston Villa.
"It was for another reason and, when he played, he did it. He competes with top, top players as well and he knows it perfectly. But never complains about that. He's such a nice guy and in the games when he doesn't play, he's the first to help the team and in the training sessions he's always there.
"I'm delighted with his behaviour and everything. I want him to make goals and I want him to make assists, and he does too. But it's not about that, it's about his contribution without the ball and what he can produce for the other ones and the many, many things that he's able to do."
