Salah humiliates Watford in historic 4-goal outing

Liverpool kingpin Mohamed Salah scored four goals on four shots against a helpless Watford side Saturday to put himself in position to claim the single-season Premier League scoring crown.

Salah increased his haul to 28 goals in the lopsided 5-0 victory - three tallies short of matching Alan Shearer's and Andy Cole's joint record in a 38-match campaign.

The pacy Egyptian found the net four minutes into the encounter, flooring Watford defender Miguel Britos as he darted into the box and let fly. Salah closed out the first half with a neat finish on a thunderous cross from Andy Robertson.

The second stanza featured much of the same dominance from the £34-million summer signing. Salah again victimised Britos on the right flank before delivering a crucial ball to Roberto Firmino, whose backheel attempt ended up in the back of the net.

In the 77th minute, Salah became the first Liverpool player since 2013 to score a Premier League hat-trick at Anfield. The treble-sealing strike was something out of Lionel Messi's playbook: Salah's tricky footwork left multiple defenders for dead, and the 25-year-old made no mistake as he poked home the final ball past goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Salah put the final touch on his four-goal outing five minutes from time, burying a clumsy rebound that Karnezis couldn't control.

Salah now boasts 36 goals in all competitions, surpassing Fernando Torres (33) for the most of any Liverpool player in a debut season.