Stats: Mohamed Salah closes in on Liverpool scoring milestone
Mohamed Salah needs just two more strikes to reach the landmark of 50 goals for Liverpool.
The Egyptian’s match-winner at Huddersfield Town on Saturday night was his 48th for the Reds, coming in just his 64th appearance for the club.
Interestingly, each of Salah’s last seven goals for Jürgen Klopp’s men have come in the first half of matches.
For more pre-match stats and facts courtesy of Ged Rea ahead of tonight’s Champions League tie with Red Star Belgrade, read on…
The clubs have been drawn together in Europe once before - in the 1973-74 European Cup. The Serbs won each leg 2-1 with Chris Lawler scoring both Reds goals in the tie. That first leg in Belgrade took place 45 years ago tonight. The return was the last time Bill Shankly managed Liverpool in Europe.
The Reds have scored 50 goals in the last 17 games in this competition, while they have netted at least twice in 10 of the last 13 European matches.
Roberto Firmino has played in every one of Liverpool's 30 European games under Klopp. The Brazilian has 12 goals for the Reds in the European Cup - only Steven Gerrard (30) and Ian Rush (14) have scored more. Dirk Kuyt and Terry McDermott also have 12.
Daniel Sturridge has netted in each of his last three European starts, finding the target against Paris Saint-Germain last month and Sevilla and Villarreal in 2016. He also scored against Manchester United at Anfield to make it four goals in his last five starts in continental competition.
Xherdan Shaqiri's next appearance will be his 100th for an English club.
The only player to have appeared for both teams is Marko Grujic, who joined the Reds from Red Star in January 2016.
Liverpool have played in Europe at Anfield twice previously on this date: they defeated Benfica 3-1 in 1984 thanks to an Ian Rush hat-trick, while in 1972 they beat AEK Athens 3-0 in the UEFA Cup.
The Reds have lost one of the last 22 European games at Anfield and are unbeaten in the previous 17 at home, winning 12 and drawing five. Only Porto have prevented Liverpool from scoring in that time.
Klopp’s side have kept 11 clean sheets in their last 14 home games in all competitions, conceding two goals in each of the other three.
A win for Red Star tonight will see Liverpool beaten on two occasions at home by the same European opponent for only the second time - Barcelona being the first in 2001 and 2007.
The return fixture in Belgrade in a fortnight will be Liverpool's 200th in the European Cup/Champions League.
Red Star played their first game in this season's competition on July 11 - four days before the World Cup final. They have progressed through three qualifying rounds and a play-off to reach the group stage.
Last season, Red Star competed in the Europa League and finished second to Arsenal in the group before losing 1-0 on aggregate to CSKA Moscow in the round of 32. They lost 1-0 at home to the Gunners and played out a goalless draw at the Emirates.
Red Star have played on English soil nine times in European competition, winning one, drawing four and losing four - the sole victory coming at Anfield in November 1973. They have scored a total of five goals in those visits.
They currently lead their domestic league by seven points having won 11 and drawn one of 12 games. They have scored 33 times while conceding seven.
Last Saturday they defeated Rad Beograd 3-1 at home thanks to two goals from forward Richmond Boakye and one from defender Marko Gobeljic. Boakye has scored five goals in his four league appearances this season.