While West Ham United and Stoke City are fighting relegation, Liverpool have one foot in the Champions League final.
West Ham face a nervous final few weeks in a bid to secure safety and face newly-crowned champions Manchester City next.
Liverpool beat Roma 5-2 on Tuesday night to give themselves a great chance of making the Champions League final in Kiev.
That may seem irrelevant to Hammers as will Ian Rush’s club record of 47 goals in a single season.
But it shouldn’t be because it could help keep the East London club up.
Liverpool were cruising at 5-0 up against Roma, inspired by two-goal Mohamed Salah.
That brace meant the Egyptian moved onto 43 goals for the season, just four behind Rush’s longstanding record.
Salah has already stated he is fully focused on breaking all records in his sights this season and winning the golden boot.
And that means the superstar forward will almost certainly play against West Ham’s relegation rivals Stoke City at the weekend and will be hungry for goals too.
Should Stoke lose they will have two games left to West Ham’s four and given their league-worst goal difference it would mean the Potters would not be able to catch the Hammers, who sit six points above them.
Salah will fancy his chances of another goal or two to go within striking distance of the record with a minimum of three but more than likely four games left to play including the Champions League final.
And that’s how Ian Rush’s goal record could help keep West Ham up… desperate times call for desperate measures.
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