The 5 most impactful Liverpool players ahead of December fixtures

Here are the five most impactful players for Liverpool in the Premier League so far. The Reds are heading into the busy December period.

Liverpool are now into their December fixture list - and it's always a vital one. After all, the team that is top at Christmas usually goes on to win the title, even if Reds fans know full well that isn't always the case.

But the fact remains that teams position themselves for the season in December. This is the month where they head into the second half of the campaign and you really find out what they're fighting for.

So which players will Liverpool turn to this month to make things happen? We've looked into Goal Creation data to find out the stars of the season so far.

Essentially, it registers how involved players are in the goals Liverpool are scoring. That doesn't mean actually sticking the ball in the net, but rather the actions that create the chances, break down defences, and lead to finishes.

Here's who stands out so far.

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5. Dominik Szoboszlai

Szoboszlai has been a revelation since arriving in the summer. He's the attacking midfielder fans have wanted for years and he's taken no time at all to start delivering.

So far, the Hungarian has been directly involved in creating six goals this season. That works out at 0.48 goals per 90 minutes he's played in the Premier League, meaning you can just about expect him to make something happen every other game.

Four of those have come from his passes in live play, with another goal coming from a shot and another from him being fouled. It's also worth mentioning that Szoboszlai is second in the squad for Shot Creating actions.

That suggests there could be more goals on the way from his play, if the data evens out over the rest of the season.

4. Kostas Tsimikas

The left-back is a little higher on this list than you'd expect but his two assists against Brentford see him up in fourth. After all, Tsimikas has only actually played 360 minutes in the Premier League.

Thus he's averaging 0.5 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, or exactly one every other game. Yes, it's a really small sample size dominated by one game but it also goes to show that Tsimikas is fully capable of delivering the goods to win a Premier League fixture from left-back.

And that's a powerful weapon.

3. Diogo Jota

Well, this one's a little bit of a heartbreaker as it's very possible that Jota doesn't play at all in December. He picked up an injury against Manchester City that will keep him out for the foreseeable future.

And that's bad news - Jota has been a real creative outlet this season. He's directly created four goals as a result of his play, doing so at a rate of 0.57 per 90 minutes. Remember, this doesn't include his goals.

He's also the only Liverpool player to create a goal directly from taking someone on. That's an incredibly difficult thing to do, with Opta data suggesting only eight players have done it more than once and no one more than three times.

The Reds will miss him this month.

2. Mohamed Salah

No Liverpool player has more goal-creating actions than Salah (9), though one teammate averages more per 90 minutes. It's an incredible stat as, once again, this does not include the goals he's scored this season.

So not only is Salah the Reds' chief goalscorer but he's their chief creator, too, averaging 0.71 GCA per 90 minutes. The Egyptian is joint-third in the Premier League with his tally, and it should go without saying that none of the players up there with him come close to his 10 goals.

All in all, that's 19 goals that have come from the direct contributions of Salah. Truly remarkable.

1. Darwin Nunez

Darwin Nunez makes things happen. He's quite correctly singled out for his ability to find the net, despite not playing anything like the minutes of Salah. But the Uruguayan also helps Liverpool score goals in other ways.

He's been involved in six goals on top of those he's scored. Given his minutes, that's 0.79 per 90 minutes - the fifth-best in the Premier League this season.

It goes to show just how valuable Nunez now is. Once he's on the pitch, Liverpool are a lot more dangerous. The Reds have scored twice this season just on the rebounds from his shots. He's also created another four with passing - not exactly something he's known for.

Nunez is just a menace and a player who will be vital for Liverpool this month.

(All data is Opta's from Fbref.)