He just can’t stop scoring.
Liverpool made light work of struggling Bournemouth as the Reds put on a ruthless attacking display to record a convincing 4-0 win at the Vitality Stadium.
Philippe Coutinho, Dejan Lovren and Roberto Firmino all got on the scoresheet for Jurgen Klopp’s men, but much of the plaudits were once again directed at Mohamed Salah after the Egyptian netted his 20th goal of the season.
And what a fine goal it was.
Coutinho had already scored a brilliant individual goal with the opener but Salah gave his Brazilian teammate a run for his money, running in behind Charlie Daniels before beating the Cherries full-back, skipping past Nathan Ake and curling a left-footed effort beyond Asmir Begovic.
While Salah fired a blank against West Brom on Wednesday night in the scoreless draw at Anfield, he was back to his devastating best to pile more misery on Eddie Howe’s side.
With that being his 20th goal in all competitions this season, it threw up a few interesting stats which illustrate and contextualise the former Chelsea winger’s brilliance since joining from Roma in the summer.
1. Speed to 20 goals
The goal means that Salah is the second-fastest player to reach 20 Liverpool goals, managing it in 26 appearances. The fastest is George Allan, who struck 20 times in 19 appearances all the way back in 1895/96 season. Daniel Sturridge also scored his 20th Reds goal in his 26th game. It’s important to remember, though, that Salah is not an out-and-out striker like the Englishman.
Salah joins Sturridge as the 2nd fastest Liverpool player of all time to reach 20 goals. 26 games. Quicker than Torres, Suarez, Fowler, Rush etc. https://t.co/RGvyyl7Per
— Joel Rabinowitz (@joel_archie) December 17, 2017
2. 20 goals before Christmas
Another hugely impressive stat is that Salah is the first player to score 20 goals in a season before Christmas since Ian Rush in the 1986/87 season. It’s remarkable that the winger has been so prolific and he, along with the likes of Coutinho, Firmino and Sadio Mane, has benefitted from Klopp’s aggressively attacking philosophy.
Mohamed Salah becomes the first Liverpool player to get 20 goals in a season before Christmas since Ian Rush in 1986-87 (with thanks to @ged0407).
— Richard Jolly 🇺🇦 (@RichJolly) December 17, 2017
3. Not since Suarez…
The third stat is that he is the first Liverpool player to score 20 goals in a season since Luis Suarez in the 2013/14 season.
It goes to show where Liverpool have been lacking since Suarez’s departure to Barcelona. It also highlights what an astute piece of business signing Salah has been. He was expected to bring pace, creativity and dynamism to Liverpool’s frontline, but I would be surprised if even Klopp expected such a flurry of goals.
He’s scored more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar so far in the current campaign.
He is the Premier League’s top scorer with 14, two ahead of Harry Kane. If he keeps it up, Salah will be odds-on favourite for the Golden Boot and the PFA Player of the Year at the end of what has been a thrilling return to English football.
