Phil Foden joins Liverpool attacking legends in exclusive hat-trick club after Aston Villa win

Phil Foden’s classy hat-trick against Aston Villa saw him join two Liverpool legends in an exclusive goalscoring club.

Foden, 23, netted his 19th, 20th and 21st goals of the season as Pep Guardiola’s side kept the pressure on Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with a comfortable 4-1 win over Aston Villa.

Clearly, Foden has been one of the outstanding young players across the past four of five seasons, he has now followed in the footsteps of two Liverpool legends in Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. After the ‘Stockport Iniesta’ netted his third hat-trick in the Premier League, the statistics tell us that only four players have managed more before the age of 24.

Teammate Erling Haaland, who was rested, already has five trebles despite only joining in 2022. While the league’s second-highest all-time scorer Kane has six, Owen and Fowler both registered seven among their early years. Every Liverpool fans knows the quality of both forwards; Owen went on to become the only player in Premier League history to win the Ballon d’Or aged 21 and he netted 111 goals in 204 games for the Reds before turning 24. While Fowler, another teenage sensation, came into the side in 1993 and scored 129 goals in just 216 games before 24.

With Kevin De Bruyne struggling with fitness issues, Foden may well continue to be the main man for City given he is currently in brilliant form ahead of an important summer for international football. That could spell trouble for Liverpool given Foden has already smashed his best-ever season tally in terms of goals and assists and he will be hoping to spearhead City’s title charge in the final eight games which is said to be more favourable compared to Liverpool and Arsenal. He only turns 24 at the end of May which means Foden could still add to his hat-trick record and move up in this exclusive list.