Salah vs Aubameyang: How do the stars compare?

The race to be the Premier League top scorer has a distinct African flavour to it this season - Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang currently leads the way, followed by Egypt's Mohamed Salah.

The forwards for Arsenal and Liverpool have hugely impressed this season - but, although they both share a keen eye for goal, they differ hugely in many other ways, from their style of play to their social media personalities.

Sportsmail takes a look at super Salah and awesome Aubameyang so far this season, to see how they compare...

Their stats so far

Both players have featured in all 19 of their team's Premier League fixtures so far this season, although Salah has spent more minutes on the pitch than Aubameyang so far - 1,579 compared to 1,486.

Despite this, Aubameyang has scored more goals than Salah - 13 to 12. The Arsenal striker averages a goal every 114.3 minutes, compared to the Liverpool forward, who strikes at a rate of once per 131.6 minutes.

Aubameyang is also, according to stats provided by Opta, more clinical with his strikes - he has had 47 attempts on goal, while Salah has struck 65 shots in the league. The Gabon international has managed to get 22 of those on target, compared to 31 from the Egyptian.

This works out at a shot conversion rate of 27.7 per cent by Aubameyang, which is significantly more impressive than Salah's rate of 18.5 per cent.

A lot of this can be put down to the playing style of the two teams - Aubameyang is the out-and-out front man for Arsenal, the focal point who they rely on to finish chances whenever they are presented; while Salah is one part in a fluid Liverpool front three, with an added creative responsibility.

What are they like off the field?

If social media is the judge, Salah is the more reserved character - his posts on Twitter include community outreach days with Liverpool, and protests over Egyptian laws regarding stray animals.

Aubameyang meanwhile is not afraid of showing off the perks of being a millionaire footballer - just before Christmas he posted a video on Instagram of him going shopping in his gold plated Lamborghini.

They share some similarities however - both have been outspoken on the issue of racism; Aubameyang in particular, posted a powerful and defiant message following a banana skin being thrown at him by a Tottenham fan after he scored in the north London derby.

Both men also have young families to dominate their off-field lives - devout Muslim Salah has a four-year-old daughter, Makka, with his wife Magi; Aubameyang has two young boys, Curtys and Pierre junior with his model girlfriend, Alysha Behague.

What is their influence on the team?

When Liverpool spent £38million on a player who had been frozen out at Chelsea a couple of seasons before, many eyebrows were raised. Those doubts have been thoroughly assuaged by his extraordinary form since the summer of 2017 - 59 goals in 78 games for Liverpool.

To see how essential Salah is to Liverpool, look at how they struggled without him in the Champions League final when he went off injured after tangling with Sergio Ramos. The Reds lost 3-1.

Aubameyang meanwhile has been indispensable since joining from Dortmund for £57m on the final day of the 2018 January transfer window - Arsene Wenger's final signing as Arsenal manager. He has 25 goals in 38 games for the Gunners.

What do they provide for the team other than goals?

Salah's role - often wide in a front three - means he leads Aubameyang when it comes to supporting stats. Salah has assisted six goals so far in the 2018/19 Premier League, to Aubameyang's three.

The Egyptian has created 41 goal scoring chances in total for the Reds, while the Gabonese star has laid on 18 attempts for his fellow players.

Intriguingly, while Salah is well ahead of Aubameyang in terms of passes made - 526 to 384 - the Gunners front man has a marginally better pass accuracy. 293 of his passes have been successful, while Salah has found his man 401 times. That's a rate of 76.3 per cent for Aubameyang, 76.2 for Salah.

How do they stand in the race for the Golden Boot?

Aubameyang has three goals in his last two games, and if he continues that rich form in the crowded winter schedule, he could leave Salah in his dust. He won the Bundesliga Golden Boot in his final full season in Germany, scoring a blistering 31 goals for Dortmund.

However Salah - for a man ludicrously viewed as having a second season dip at points this campaign - has proved he is one of the most creative attacking forces in football. His hat-trick display against Bournemouth was arguably the best individual display this season. He scored 32 league goals last season, and will go close to that total again.