In a 38-game Premier League season three players hold the joint record for most goals scored in a single campaign.
Alan Shearer (Blackburn; 1995/96), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United; 2007/08) and Luis Suarez (Liverpool; 2013/14) all plundered 31 times, but that record is in serious jeopardy.
Mohamed Salah’s four-goal haul in Liverpool’s 5-0 win over Watford on Saturday moved the Egyptian onto 28 goals for the season – it’s March and there are still seven games to go.
The question now is not if he will break the record, but by how much.
With that in mind, our team of writers make their predictions for Salah’s end-of-season tally.
TOM BIGGS = 35
Crystal Palace (A): 1
Everton (A): 0
Bournemouth (H): 2
West Brom (A): 0
Stoke (H): 1
Chelsea (A): 1
Brighton (H): 2
There’s no doubt Salah will smash the 38-game season record. Even with Liverpool’s Champions League involvement, which could see the Egyptian afforded a couple of rests when it comes to league action by manager Jurgen Klopp, Salah will surpass Ronaldo, Suarez and Shearer’s impressive feat when Liverpool take on Stoke City at Anfield in late April. Not only that, Salah will also just about do enough to beat the 42-game season record of 34, with strikes coming against Crystal Palace, Stoke City and Chelsea, as well as braces at home to Bournemouth and Brighton, to take his final total to 35.
Mo Salah APOLOGISED to the Watford keeper after sticking four past him.
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 17, 2018
The nicest guy in football 👏 pic.twitter.com/YaHAjGgTEi
BRENDON NETTO = 37
Crystal Palace (A): 1
Everton (A): 0
Bournemouth (H): 3
West Brom (A): 1
Stoke (H): 1
Chelsea (A): 1
Brighton (H): 2
Given his astonishing level of consistency this season, Salah fully deserves to smash the record which he should do with plenty of time to spare. Liverpool do still have the Champions League to contest but that may not be the case for much longer having drawn Manchester City in the quarter-finals. As such, the Egyptian may not miss much league action while the Reds have attractive fixtures in their run-in. At least one more hat-trick on the cards.
4 - Mo Salah today became the first player to score four goals from exactly four shots in a Premier League game since Andrey Arshavin for Arsenal at Liverpool in April 2009. Awesome. pic.twitter.com/Oxhp2k0vBN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 17, 2018
MATT MONAGHAN = 35
Crystal Palace (A): 1
Everton (A): 0
Bournemouth (H): 2
West Brom (A): 0
Stoke (H): 3
Chelsea (A): 1
Brighton (H): 0
When you do the maths on Salah’s punishing debut season, he’s currently running at an incredible 0.9 goals per game in the Premier League. With seven matches left in the season, the averages show the prolific Egypt star will add 6.5 more to his tally in the fixtures to come. He’s earned the right to have this number rounded up, so I’m backing him to get seven more – the highlight being a hat-trick to relegate Stoke with three games left.
ALEX REA = 34
Crystal Palace (A): 1
Everton (A): 0
Bournemouth (H): 2
West Brom (A): 1
Stoke (H): 1
Chelsea (A): 0
Brighton (H): 1
Salah is on fire, and Liverpool should hope someone puts him out before Real Madrid are alerted. With every blazing performance the 25-year-old inches closer to the Spanish capital but at this point, and with the Reds’ run of fixtures through to May, it’s unlikely to end. Salah has only failed to score against two of Liverpool’s last seven opponents (Brighton and Crystal Palace), plundering six in the other five. He could theoretically be rested for the Merseyside Derby with the trip to Everton sandwiched by the Manchester City tie but the only other fixture he could draw a blank in is at Stamford Bridge.
