Paul Merson would’ve given Liverpool fans a laugh over his commentary on Mo Salah putting the seal on another Reds victory this afternoon.
The home side had to do it the hard way at Anfield against Southampton, who took a shock lead just before half-time but were eventually defeated 3-1, with the Egyptian King converting two penalties.
The result wasn’t truly sealed until the second of those in the 88th minute as the 2024/25 Premier League’s top scorer emphatically dispatched the spot kick past Aaron Ramsdale (and then didn’t realise that they could make a sixth substitution owing to an earlier head injury for Jan Bednarek).
Merson makes 800-goal joke about Salah
It was Salah’s 27th top-flight goal of the season and his 32nd in all competitions, although Merson inflated that tally exponentially on Sky Sports‘ Soccer Saturday!
After watching Liverpool’s number 11 blast the ball past the Southampton goalkeeper, the pundit exclaimed with a touch of hyperbole (16:54): “Nobody was saving that. It’s his 800th goal of the season!”
Salah’s scoring figures at Liverpool defy belief
In actual fact, the Egyptian King only has 4% of the tally that Merson jokingly quoted, but it was nonetheless an amusing comment on just how prolific the 32-year-old has been.
To reach 32 goals for the season before the middle of March is a tremendous accomplishment by Salah, who needs just 12 more to equal his phenomenal haul from his first campaign at Anfield seven years ago and has a minimum of 11 matches (potentially 16) in which to achieve that feat.
His second penalty of the afternoon took him onto 184 Premier League goals, level with Sergio Aguero in fifth in the all-time standings and just three behind Andy Cole’s total (premierleague.com).
Should the Liverpool legend sign a new contract and stay on Merseyside for even another season, it seems inevitable that he’ll become just the fourth player to reach the 200-goal mark in the division’s 33-year history.
It mightn’t quite be the 800 that Merson hilariously quoted on air, but it still speaks volumes for what an iconic figure Salah has been – and continues to be – ever since he signed from Roma in 2017.
