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Liverpool's greatest ever players by number

Sports Mole takes an alternative look at Liverpool's best ever players, listing them by number from Steven Gerrard and Kenny Dalglish to Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli.

The Liverpool class of 2019-20 look set to join some legendary names of the past by picking up the top-flight title this season, ending a 30-year drought in the process.

When the Reds lifted title number 18 it seemed unfathomable that it would take three decades for them to add to that tally; they were by far the most successful team in England and had been one of the dominant forces since Bill Shankly revived the club from the second tier in the 1960s.

Jurgen Klopp is the man who has finally restored Liverpool to their former glory, already adding a sixth European Cup to their trophy cabinet, and the current crop of players have been mentioned in the same breath as their hugely successful predecessors.

Here, Sports Mole has created a list of Liverpool's greatest ever players with a difference, ranking the best to have worn every shirt number for the club.

Such a stipulation demands difficult decisions and sees some legendary names such as Graeme Souness, Emlyn Hughes and Tommy Smith miss out, whereas the likes of Djimi Traore, Lazar Markovic and Nabil El Zhar do make the cut.

Of course, plenty of towering figures from the club's past are included, but the nature of iconic shirt numbers means that they are often at the expense of those who are not far behind them in the pecking order.

The number seven shirt, for example, belongs to Sir Kenny Dalglish - a decision which is difficult to argue with but one which sees Kevin Keegan, Luis Suarez and Steve McManaman demoted to mere honourable mentions.

Number nine throws up an even more difficult choice, with record goalscorer Ian Rush pipping Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres and Ian St John, while Souness and Mohamed Salah are among the luminaries to miss out to record appearance-maker Ian Callaghan.

The number four shirt has been bestowed upon some memorable defenders, with Virgil van Dijk the latest to follow in the footsteps of Sami Hyypia, Mark Lawrenson, Tommy Smith and Phil Thompson.

Hughes misses out due to the presence of Alan Hansen, Roger Hunt is pipped to number eight by Steven Gerrard while John Barnes beats John Toshack, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane to number 10.

And yet, for every legendary figure to miss out, there is a much less illustrious name that makes it - Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Jonjo Shelvey are among those included.

See below for our full list of Liverpool's best players by number, with other contenders in brackets.



Liverpool's greatest ever players by number

1. Ray Clemence (Bruce Grobbelaar, Tommy Lawrence, Alisson Becker)
2. Phil Neal (Chris Lawler, Gary Gillespie, Rob Jones, Stephane Henchoz)
3. Alan Kennedy (Gerry Byrne, Joey Jones, Steve Finnan)
4. Phil Thompson (Tommy Smith, Mark Lawrenson, Virgil van Dijk, Steve Nicol, Sami Hyypia, Geoff Strong)
5. Ron Yeats (Ray Kennedy, Ronnie Whelan, Larry Lloyd, Daniel Agger)
6. Alan Hansen (Emlyn Hughes, John Arne Riise)
7. Kenny Dalglish (Kevin Keegan, Luis Suarez, Steve McManaman, Peter Beardsley)
8. Steven Gerrard (Roger Hunt, Jimmy Case, Ray Houghton)
9. Ian Rush (Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres, Ian St John, Roberto Firmino, David Johnson)
10. John Barnes (John Toshack, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Craig Johnston, Luis Garcia)
11. Ian Callaghan (Graeme Souness, Mohamed Salah, Steve McMahon, Jamie Redknapp)
12. Steve Heighway (Terry McDermott, Sammy Lee, John Aldridge, Peter Beardsley)
13. Danny Murphy (Karl-Heinz Riedle)
14. Jan Molby (Jordan Henderson, Xabi Alonso, Ray Houghton)
15. Daniel Sturridge (Patrik Berger, Peter Crouch)
16. Dietmar Hamann (Michael Thomas)
17. Steven Gerrard (Steve McManaman, Paul Ince)
18. Dirk Kuyt (John Arne Riise)
19. Sadio Mane (Ryan Babel)
20. Javier Mascherano (Stig-Inge Bjornebye, Adam Lallana, Nick Barmby)
21. Lucas Leiva (Gary McAllister, Dominic Matteo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
22. Mohamed Sissoko (Simon Mignolet, Titi Camara)
23. Jamie Carragher (Emre Can, Xherdan Shaqiri)
24. Danny Murphy (Joe Allen, Florent Sinama-Pongolle)
25. Pepe Reina (Igor Biscan, David Thompson)
26. Andrew Robertson (Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing)
27. Divock Origi (Philipp Degen, Gregory Vignal)
28. Steven Gerrard (Stephen Warnock, Danny Ings)
29. Fabio Borini (Dominic Solanke)
30. Djimi Traore (Boudewijn Zenden)
31. Raheem Sterling (Nabil El Zhar, Frode Kippe)
32. Joel Matip (Stephen Darby)
33. Jonjo Shelvey (Neil Mellor, Jordon Ibe)
34. Martin Kelly (Adam Bogdan)
35. Kevin Stewart (Danny Guthrie)
36. Jon Otsemobor Nathan Ecclestone)
37. Martin Skrtel (Jari Litmanen)
38. Jon Flanagan
39. Craig Bellamy
40. Daniel Ayala (Ryan Kent)
41. Mark Smyth
42. Nabil El Zhar
43. N/A
44. Jordon Ibe (Brad Smith)
45. Mario Balotelli
46. Jordan Rossiter
47. Andre Wisdom
48. Curtis Jones
49. Jack Robinson
50. Lazar Markovic
51. Ki-Jana Hoever
52. Danny Ward
53. Joao Carlos Teixeira
54. Sheyi Ojo
55. Herbie Kane
56. Connor Randall
57. Rhian Brewster
58. Ben Woodburn
59. Harry Wilson
60. N/A
61. N/A
62. Caoimhin Kelleher
63. N/A
64. Rafael Camacho
65. N/A
66. Trent Alexander-Arnold
67. Harvey Elliott
68. Pedro Chirivella
69. Elijah Dixon-Bonner
70. Yasser Larouci
71. N/A
72. Sepp van den Berg
73. N/A
74. N/A
75. Luis Longstaff
76. Neco Williams
77. Morgan Boyes
78. N/A
79. N/A
80. Jake Cain
81. Jack Bearne
82. N/A
83. N/A
84. Leighton Clarkson
85. N/A
86. N/A
87. N/A
88. N/A
89. N/A
90. N/A
91. N/A
92. N/A
93. James Norris
94. N/A
95. N/A
96. N/A
97. N/A
98. N/A
99. Thomas Hill

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