Kop 10: Who's scored the most goals in first 100 LFC league games?
Mohamed Salah marked his 100th Premier League appearance for Liverpool with a 70th goal in the competition earlier this month.
The Egyptian slotted in a clinical equaliser when the Reds came from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 at Anfield.
No player has ever scored more than Salah in their first century of league games for the club that have been played in the top flight.
Roger Hunt did, however, net 72 in his opening 100 league matches – with all of those coming in the Second Division.
Here’s a closer look at the 10 most prolific Reds scorers in the same period...
1 – Roger Hunt, 72 goals
It’s little surprise, perhaps, that Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorer in league football comes out on top in this particular race.
‘Sir’ Roger’s first century of league appearances came in the Second Division as the Reds toiled to clinch promotion – a feat they achieved under Bill Shankly in 1961-62.
It was that season when Hunt played his 100th league match and, in fact, his performance that day against Preston North End made the difference in this list.
The striker netted twice in a 4-1 victory at Anfield, with the brace enough to keep him clear of Salah when the Egyptian came chasing his record 58 years later.
2 – Mohamed Salah, 70 goals
Salah, however, is unrivalled when it comes to the highest number of goals in a Liverpool player’s first 100 outings that have come in the top flight of English football.
The No.11 notched his 70th effort on his own landmark league appearance with a neat low finish when the Reds defeated Bournemouth earlier this month.
Salah claimed the Premier League Golden Boot with 32 strikes in his debut season at Anfield and retained it last term with a further 22.
His goal in the 2-1 comeback over Bournemouth – against whom Salah has scored most frequently, along with Watford (eight) – made it 16 for the current campaign.
=3 – Jack Parkinson and Sam Raybould, 67 goals
The pace in this category was set in the first decade of the 20th century as first Sam Raybould (in 1903) and then Jack Parkinson (in 1909) tallied 67 goals in their first 100 Liverpool league games.
Indeed, it was the former’s outstanding scoring record in the top flight – which had stood for 117 years – that Salah surpassed recently.
After 40 league strikes in the preceding three seasons, a purple patch in Raybould’s most prolific Reds campaign – a total of 31 in 1902-03 – saw him lay a formidable marker.
Parkinson’s first 100 league appearances were stretched across six years, with a one-season dip down to the Second Division, culminating in a 30-goal term in 1909-10.
5 – Fernando Torres, 63 goals
An unforgettable debut season on Merseyside saw Fernando Torres race to 24 goals in his 33 Premier League appearances in 2007-08.
Injury reduced the Spaniard’s game time somewhat in the years that followed, though his scoring rate remained impressively high – including 18 in 22 during 2009-10 – to help him place in the top five in this list.
In fact, a strike against Blackpool on his 99th league outing in January 2011 is what separates Torres from two other modern-day Reds goal-getters.
=6 – Robbie Fowler and Luis Suarez, 62 goals
Robbie Fowler rapidly clocked up 100 league appearances within three seasons of his breakthrough as a striking sensation in 1993.
He marked his century with a goal, of course, as Chelsea were beaten 2-0 at Anfield by Roy Evans’ side – his landmark coming in March 1996.
Suarez went on to equal Fowler’s haul almost two decades later, with the Uruguayan’s catalogue of 62 coming via a steadier build following his transfer from Ajax in 2011.
A surge of goals in 2012-13 carried into the next campaign as the Reds launched a Premier League title challenge, and his effort at Southampton in his 100th top-flight match levelled with Fowler at the last opportunity.
8 – Ian Rush, 61 goals
After blanking in each of his first seven league appearances when he broke into the Liverpool team in 1980-81, Ian Rush soon set about plundering at a frequency that would ultimately make him the club’s record scorer in all competitions.
And his 100th league outing coincided with the most prolific single campaign of his Anfield career, Rush netting 32 times in the top flight in 1983-84.
At that moment, his total of 61 strikes in his opening century earned him fourth spot on this list, with Fowler, Salah, Suarez and Torres since edging ahead of him.
=9 – Gordon Hodgson and Albert Stubbins, 59 goals
Wrapping up this top 10 are two of Liverpool’s most consistent goalscorers.
Gordon Hodgson banged in 233 in his 358 league games for the club, with his 100th appearance fittingly marked by a hat-trick in an 8-0 thrashing of Burnley at Anfield on Boxing Day 1928.
Albert Stubbins, meanwhile, was almost one in two in league football – scoring 75 in 159 matches – and also celebrated his century in perfect fashion with the only goal of a win at West Bromwich Albion in October 1949.
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