StatsBirthday boy returns, Salah's scoring rate and Wolves record
Ahead of Liverpool's Premier League trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, take a look at 13 interesting facts about the 3pm GMT kick-off.
From a returning forward to Mohamed Salah’s goalscoring rate – and a surprising hat-trick anomaly – club statistician Ged Red presents the trivia for the Molineux meeting…
The Reds are undefeated in the last eight league meetings at Molineux and have conceded only once on the past six top-flight visits.
In the last 32 league clashes, home and away, Liverpool have prevented Wolves from scoring on 20 occasions.
Salah needs one goal to reach 20 for the season in all competitions. If he scores it before December 15 he will reach the landmark for the club in the third-fastest time by date – behind only Ian Rush (November 6, 1986) and Roger Hunt (November 25, 1961).
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Watch on YouTubeThe Egypt international has scored 13 goals in nine away appearances this season in all competitions and has 17 in his last 15.
Salah is averaging a goal every 87 minutes this term.
Diogo Jota, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on the day of the match, scored 44 times in 131 appearances for Wolves, with 33 of those goals coming in 111 league outings.
Jürgen Klopp’s side have scored four goals or more in three successive league games for the first time since December 2013.
Were they to score four or more again versus Wolves, it would be only the second time in the club’s top-flight history the Reds have done so in four consecutive league fixtures, having done so from September to October 1987. Liverpool also achieved the feat in the Second Division in both 1895 and 1905.
No Reds player has ever scored a hat-trick against Wolves in any competition.
Wolves have lost just one of their last nine Premier League matches – a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last month – and have recorded three clean sheets in a row.
They are undefeated in their past four top-flight home games, winning 2-1 against Newcastle United and Everton and 1-0 against West Ham United before Wednesday’s goalless draw with Burnley.
The hosts’ defender Ki-Jana Hoever was in the Liverpool team the last time Wolves beat the Reds. He came on as a sixth-minute substitute for Dejan Lovren in the FA Cup tie at Molineux almost three years ago. He played four times for Liverpool, all in cup competitions.
Conor Coady made two appearances for the Reds – both in the 2012-13 season – including one substitute outing in the Premier League.