Mohamed Salah breaks Didier Drogba’s long-standing Premier League record in 72 fewer games

Mohamed Salah has broken Didier Drogba’s record of the most Premier League goal involvements by an African player.

Two goals and an assist, for Joel Matip, in last night’s 6-0 win at home to Leeds United saw the Reds forward rack up 160 Premier League goal involvements to take him ahead of Drogba’s 159.

And Egyptian Salah broke the former Chelsea striker’s record in 72 fewer games, cementing his reputation as one of the greatest African footballers in history and one of the best players in the world.

Ivory Coast striker Drogba set the record during two stints with the Blues. He left Stamford Bridge for good in 2015.

Salah now has 116 goals and 44 assists in his Premier League career - most of which have come in red after a short spell with Chelsea - and 19 so far this season, putting him in pole position for the another golden boot.

And in scoring twice on Wednesday evening, the Egyptian now has the best goals-to-game ratio of any player in Liverpool history.

All-time great

Salah’s 114 goals in 169 Premier League appearances for Liverpool puts his goals to game ratio at 0.675, taking him above Fernando Torres’ 0.637 (65 goals in 102 appearances).

He is now just fourteen goals behind Robbie Fowler in Liverpool’s all-time Premier League goalscoring charts having played 97 fewer games.

Ever since his 2017 arrival, the former Fiorentina winger has consistently performed and consistently found the net, elevating him into a pantheon of Liverpool greats including Ian Rush, Fowler and Michael Owen.

And his influence has pushed the Reds back to the top of English and European football - with a Champions League and Premier League to show for it.

Plenty more to come

Salah now has a chance to extend his record to near-unreachable levels with at least the remainder of this season to go.

The Reds have 12 Premier League games left and will have to win almost all of them if they are to catch Manchester City - and if they are to seriously challenge for the title then the involvement of Salah will be vital.

He will have his sights set on another golden boot and looks set to claim it having scored seven more than second-placed Diogo Jota.

Sunday’s Carabao Cup final won’t be an opportunity to add to his Premier League tally, but lead Liverpool to the first of four available trophies this season and Salah can further cement his place among the best players in the world.