Mohamed Salah sits joint-fourth among the fastest players to score 50 goals in the Premier League, but the reality is he has done so quicker than any other.
Salah netted his 50th in the English top flight as part of a brace in Saturday’s 4-3 victory over Crystal Palace, continuing his incredible, record-breaking second run in the league.
After a frustrating initial spell with Chelsea, and two-and-a-half restorative seasons in Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma, the Egyptian has been a revelation on Merseyside.
He has been hailed as the fourth-fastest to reach a half-century of goals in the Premier League, level with Fernando Torres having notched 50 in 72 games.
This leaves him behind only Ruud van Nistelrooy (68), Alan Shearer (66) and Andy Cole (65), underlining his status as one of the best goalscorers in the history of the league.
But as illustrated by Opta, when basing on goals-to-minutes rather than goals-to-games – arguably a far more accurate barometer of ‘quickest’ – then Salah is even higher in the list, coming in second behind only Alan Shearer.
5374 – Mohamed Salah took 5374 minutes to reach 50 Premier League goals in his career; only Alan Shearer (5337 mins) managed it quicker. Fernando Torres (5483), Ruud van Nistelrooy (5600) & Sergio Aguero (5710) complete the top 5 quickest to 50 Premier League goals. Clarification pic.twitter.com/OdpACiSNQ8
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 21, 2019
The 26-year-old scored his first 50 goals in the Premier League in just 5,374 minutes, which is fewer than any other player bar Shearer (5,337 minutes).
Torres did so in 5,483, as the third-fastest, which highlights just how phenomenal both have been for Liverpool.
Salah has reached 50 in significantly less time than ex-Reds trio Michael Owen (7,677), Robbie Fowler (7,622) and Luis Suarez (7,598), along with current team-mate Daniel Sturridge (6,788).
Given he played 530 of those minutes in the league for Chelsea, scoring just twice, underlines the remarkable form he has been since trading Rome for Merseyside in 2017.
He has scored 48 goals in just 59 games for Liverpool in the Premier League, averaging one every 101.2 minutes, and having also laid on 19 league assists in that time he is contributing to a goal every 72.5 minutes in total.
* Correction: Article amended after earlier version incorrectly stated Salah was quicker than Shearer. Stats have now been clarified and corrected above.
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