Mohamed Salah’s season so far – a player in the form of his life

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season and his form has led to him being hailed as currently the best player in the world.

The Egypt international, who grabbed a hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-0 Premier League win at Manchester United, has scored in every game bar one this campaign.

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at Salah’s season so far.

Form of his life

Salah has scored 15 goals in 13 appearances. The only team to prevent him finding the net are Burnley, back on August 21. By comparison, in his first year at the club when he broke the single-season Premier League scoring record (32) on his way to 44 goals, he had six at the same stage of the campaign.

Record-breaking run

The Egyptian’s first goal at Old Trafford was the 10th successive match in which he had scored. He is the first man to achieve the feat in the club’s 129-year history. After scoring against Norwich in August he became the first player in Premier League history to net on the opening day of five consecutive seasons.

Surpassing the greats

When Salah found the net in the draw at Brentford last month, he became the fastest player to score 100 top-flight goals for Liverpool. His century came in his 151st match and although overall it was behind Roger Hunt (148) and Jack Parkinson (149) some of their goals were scored in the second division. A couple of weeks earlier he became only the second African player to score 100 goals in the Premier League and his opener at Manchester United, Liverpool’s third, took him past Didier Drogba’s 104.

European star

Salah’s second goal against Atletico was his 31st for Liverpool in the Champions League (one came in a qualifier). That is one better than former Reds captain Steven Gerrard.

Consistency King

Labelled a one-season wonder by critics after registering an incredible 44 goals in his maiden campaign for Liverpool, Salah has never scored fewer than 23 goals in any one season. His total for Liverpool currently stands at 140 in 215 matches, which puts him 10th on the club’s all-time goalscorers list after just four full seasons. He is 18 behind eighth-placed Michael Owen, having played 82 fewer matches, while another 47 goals will lift him above Gerrard into fifth place. He has been Premier League Golden Boot winner twice (once joint) in four years.