While Manchester United keep closing the gap between themselves and rivals Liverpool in terms of league titles, a debutant playing at Anfield is close to matching (and if opportunities permit, breaking) a record set by a former Manchester United striker.
With 3 games left in the Premier League (2-3 more in Europe), Fernando Torres has 30 goals from 42 appearances, and 22 from 31 appearances in the Premier League. This leaves him just 1 short of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of 23 goals from 32 appearances, and 6 short of his overall first season (2001/2002) tally of 36 goals from 45 games.
These numbers are phenomenal – RVN’s strike rate of 150 goals in 201 games is legendary and Torres can bring that consistency of 4-5 seasons (at least) to Liverpool, then who knows where they’ll go?
Some numbers:
Most goals in first season in the Premier League (1992 — 2008)
|
|
Player |
|
Club | Season |
|
|
Kevin Phillips |
|
Sunderland | 1999/2000 |
|
|
Ruud van Nistelrooy |
|
Manchester United | 2001/2002 |
|
|
Fernando Torres |
|
Liverpool | 2007/2008 |
|
|
Andy Johnson |
|
Crystal Palace | 2004/2005 |
|
|
Jürgen Klinsmann |
|
Tottenham Hotspur | 1994/1995 |
|
|
Marcus Stewart |
|
Ipswich Town | 2000/2001 |
|
|
Ole Gunnar Solskjær |
|
Manchester United | 1996/1997 |
|
|
Benni McCarthy |
|
Blackburn Rovers | 2006/2007 |
|
|
Thierry Henry |
|
Arsenal | 1999/2000 |
|
|
Mark Viduka |
|
Leeds United | 2000/2001 |
Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers) can enter this table as he currently stands on 16 goals.
Liverpool’s last 3 league games are Birmingham (away), Manchester City (home) and Tottenham (away). Liverpool are secure in 4th spot and have little chance of catching Arsenal in 3rd (5 points ahead) or being caught by Everton (8 points behind). As such, the only thing for Torres to do now is play for Liverpool in the Champions League and get them to the final (and then help them win it).
He won’t play against Brum, and I doubt he’ll play City (same week as the second leg of the semi final), so that leaves him with just one league game to equal Ruud’s record. Considering the season he’s had, he deserves the chance to equal the league record at least (and I’m sure that Tottenham will make it easy as they usually do).
As for Ruud’s overall record (36 goals, including 11 in Europe), I don’t think Torres can match that – but he is one of the most likely candidates to cross the 40-goal mark next season.
Quality forward, far too good for his choice of red 🙂
