Ranking the Top 10 Best Players in Liverpool History

There is no doubt that Liverpool are one of the best teams in England, and their fans may even argue they’re the most successful club in the country’s history. Before the upsurge of Manchester United in the late 90s, Liverpool were the English club everyone looked out for, and their famous win against AC Milan in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League could go down as one of the greatest matches in history, resulting in a massive fans participation in football betting sites.

The club’s glorious history wouldn’t be the same without legendary players like Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, and Sir Kenny Dalglish. Their pivotal contributions have shaped the club’s remarkable success. This article delves deeper and ranks the top 10 best players in Liverpool’s history who have cemented their place.

#10. Jamie Carragher

If loyalty were built in human form, it would be in the shape of Jamie Carragher, the man who spent all his footballing career at Liverpool as a defender, playing over 700 games for the Merseyside club. Carragher spent 17 years at Liverpool, 10 of which he served as a vice captain under Steven Gerrard.

The Englishman’s career may have been forgotten, thanks to his punditry work, but he remains one of the best players in the club’s history. Carragher might have lacked technical abilities, but he made up for it with his sheer determination.

Jamie won 11 trophies with the Reds, including their famous UCL triumph in 2005.

#9. John Barnes

John Barnes may have made a name for himself at Watford, but the Jamaica-born left-winger became a household name at Liverpool, where he went on to become a legend of the game. Barnes made over 400 competitive appearances for the club, scoring 107 goals and registering 94 assists.

The No. 10 was also Liverpool’s best player for some good years, as Jamie Carragher would later claim that he was the best player he ever trained or played with. Barnes won two league titles with Liverpool in 1988 and 1990. He also won two FA Cups, in 1989 and 1992. His other notable achievement with the club was winning the League Cup in 1995.

Barnes left Liverpool in 1997 to spend two years at Newcastle before moving to Charlton Athletic, where he retired in 1999.

#8. Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres only spent four years at Liverpool, and those were enough to earn him a spot on the list of the best players in Liverpool history. The Spaniard was lethal in front of goals, and he will be remembered for consistently scoring big goals against Manchester United, especially with Edwin Van der Sar in goal.

Steven Gerrard had an opportunity to choose the player he enjoyed playing with the most up front, and the legendary Liverpool captain chose Torres. In terms of goals, Torres scored 81 goals for Liverpool in 142 appearances.

Sadly, the lack of trophies at the club forced him to move to Chelsea, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2012 and the Europa League a year later.

#7. Luis Suarez

During Luis Suarez’s three-year stint at Liverpool from 2011 to 2014, there was no better goalscorer than the Uruguayan in the Premier League. Sadly, he had little to show for it, winning just the League Cup with Liverpool in 2012 before forcing a move to Barcelona to play alongside Lionel Messi in 2014.

Suarez’s Liverpool career was full of outrageous goals—some of the best the Premier League has ever seen. He also formed a good partnership with Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard, with the latter claiming that he was hurt by Suarez’s decision to leave the club.

Suarez played 133 games for Liverpool, scoring 82 goals and registering 46 assists, making him one of the best players in Liverpool history.

#6. Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan spent just six years at Liverpool but had the best period of his career at Merseyside. During his six-year stint at the club, Keegan appeared in 323 games, scoring 100 goals, before leaving Liverpool in 1977. He was one of the first exports of English players into Europe, with the Liverpool legend joining Hamburger SV in Germany for a record fee of £500,000 before returning to England three years later to play for Southampton.

The former City manager won nine titles at Liverpool, including three League titles, one FA Cup, two UEFA Cup titles, and one European Cup in 1977, his final season at the club.

After his playing career, Keegan went on to manage the likes of Newcastle, Fulham, Manchester City, and Newcastle United. He even briefly coached the England national team from 1999 to 2000.

#5. Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah understandably deserves a spot on this list, and there are many reasons to justify his inclusion. The Chelsea reject joined Liverpool from Roma in June 2017 after establishing himself as one of the best goalscorers in Serie A, with Klopp quickly turning the Egyptian into a goal machine at Liverpool.

Since joining Liverpool, Salah has scored 199 goals in 326 appearances and counting. He’s currently battling with Erling Haaland for the Golden Boot in the Premier League this season, trailing the Norwegian by just four goals.

The forward has also won the Premier League, the UCL, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Carabao Cup at Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp.

#4. Ian Rush

Hats off to the man who holds the club’s all-time goalscoring record with 346 goals in 660 matches. Ian Rush had two spells at Liverpool, with the first one running from 1980 to 1987 and the second one from 1988 to 1996. Rush’s best campaign came in the 1983–84 season, where he scored 47 goals in 65 appearances to help the club win the league title and the European Cup.

Altogether, Rush won 16 trophies during his time at the club, including two league titles, two League Cup titles, and two European Cups. Individually, Rush was Liverpool’s top goalscorer for eight seasons, including three in a row from 1981 to 1984.

#3. Robbie Fowler

Just like Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler also had two stints at Liverpool, with the first one running from 1993 to 2001 and the second one from 2006 to 2007. During those two stints, Fowler scored 183 goals in 369 appearances for Liverpool to become one of the club’s record goalscorers, placing him above Kenny Dalglish, Michael Owen, and John Barnes.

Fowler also won some huge honors during his time at the club, with five trophies, including the FA Cup, two League Cups, one UEFA Cup, and one UEFA Super Cup.

#2. Kenny Dalglish

Kenny Dalglish is an absolute legend of the game. The Scotsman only played for two clubs in his professional career: Celtic and Liverpool. He joined the Reds in 1977 and played for them until he brought down the curtains in 1990. During this time, Dalglish had scored 172 goals for Liverpool in 515 appearances.

“King Kenny” is one of the most decorated players in the club’s history, with 14 major titles (excluding the FA Charity Shield). Dalglish won seven League titles, one FA Cup, four League Cups, three European Cups, and one European Super Cup.

After retirement, Dalglish went into management, coaching the Liverpool first team as a player-manager for five years before returning for a second managerial stint from 2011 to 2012.

#1. Steven Gerrard

You’d be absolutely wrong to question Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool legacy based on the number of trophies he won at the club. Even from a central midfield position, Gerrard managed to score 186 goals in 710 appearances for the club, making him one of the club’s top-record goalscorers.

While many may remember him for that infamous slip that cost Liverpool the league title in 2014, Gerrard brought some excellent memories to Liverpool fans, and he won two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and one UEFA Super Cup during his time at the club, many of which he won as captain.

Honorable Mentions

Liverpool have had some great players over the years, some of whom didn’t make our list, which is quite unfortunate. Roger Hunt is the most notable exclusion from the list, and many may wonder why he didn’t make it; after all, he is second on the list of the club’s record goalscorers with 285 goals in 492 appearances.

Graeme Souness is also one of the most famous names associated with Liverpool. The Scot played in 359 games for the Reds, scoring 52 goals.

Other players include more recent stars like Virgil van Dijk, Alison Becker, Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and many more.

How would your own list of the top 10 Liverpool players look? Make sure to leave it with us in the comments section!