Wednesday 18 April 2018 10:49, UK
How does Mohamed Salah's goalscoring exploits compare to previous Premier League Golden Boot winners? We take a look to get a better understanding of Salah's incredible feats this season.
What a season it has been for Mohamed Salah and Liverpool. There may not have been a sustained title challenge or domestic cup run, but Liverpool's style of play has wowed audiences across Europe en route to the last four of the Champions League.
At the forefront of their rip-roaring attack is Salah, who already has a colossal 30 league goals to his name, four ahead of his nearest Golden Boot rival, Harry Kane. How does the Egypt international's record compare to previous seasons, and what is the next target with four games still to come? A record-breaking season is on the horizon…
Salah is already ahead of the tally Didier Drogba reached eight years ago, and Kane's goal return from last season.
Chelsea were unstoppable in winning their third Premier League crown in 2009/10, breaking the record for goals scored in a Premier League season - 103 - a record that still stands today.
Spearheading the attack was Drogba, who never went more than three games without scoring and even managed to cram in a hat-trick on the final day of the season in the 8-0 demolition of Wigan.
Having burst onto the scene in 2013/14, Kane has gradually improved, developing alongside the expert marksmen Tottenham have at their disposal today. His form towards the end of last season set him on course for a Premier League record for goals in the calendar year in 2017. Kane, therefore, will take this year's battle down to the wire.
The most surprising name in this star-studded 30-goal quartet is former Sunderland man Kevin Phillips. Linking up with Niall Quinn to form the archetypal little and large partnership, the pair combined for a colossal 77 per cent of Sunderland's goals in 1999/00. Phillips finished seven ahead of all-time Premier League top goalscorer's Alan Shearer's season tally, but even that wasn't enough to earn him a place in the England squad for Euro 2000.
The 2003/04 Premier League season is remembered for Arsenal's incredible unbeaten campaign, and at the forefront of that title-winning team was Thierry Henry, scoring 30 of the Gunners' 73 league goals - his most prolific season of a glittering career.
Another Arsenal hitman enjoyed his most prolific campaign of his career in 2011/12, but Robin van Persie's efforts didn't yield any league glory, as a leaky defence ensured Arsenal finished third. Van Persie got that Premier League winners' medal the following season, though, at Manchester United.
Salah needs one to emulate the achievements of Luis Suarez during his final season at Liverpool. 31 goals in 33 appearances fired Liverpool to the cusp of the Premier League title, only to see Chelsea break Liverpool hearts at Anfield. Nonetheless, PFA Player of the Year, Football Writers' Player of the Year and Barclays Fans' Player of the Year awards stood neatly in a line on Suarez's mantelpiece at home, before he departed for Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo went one better than Suarez in 2008, picking up his first Ballon d'Or award after firing Manchester United to their second of three league titles in a row, and a second Champions League crown. It was the first season he'd break the 30-goal mark, but not his last by any stretch.
The first two appearances Alan Shearer makes on this list came either side of Blackburn's solitary Premier League title triumph. Blackburn finished second in 1994 - back when the Premier League was still 22 teams - unable to really back Shearer's haul, as the England hitman scored almost half his team's goals, while a seventh-placed finish in 1996 was partly due to the same problem, as Shearer scored over half of Blackburn's goals.
These two seasoned pros reaped the rewards of a 22-team Premier League season to lead the way. Shearer went three better than the previous season, and that small difference helped Blackburn edge past United on the final day to secure a sensational Premier League crown.
One striker who famously missed a glorious chance to snatch the title for United on that final day was Andy Cole, who moved to Manchester after plundering 34 goals for Newcastle the previous season. Salah, if he reached this mark, while playing less games, deserves the utmost acclaim.
