Liverpool picked up their second Premier League title in the span of five years last season, and the Reds' squad have earned their place in the history books.
Former Feyenoord head-coach Arne Slot arrived in 2024 after legendary boss Jurgen Klopp decided to walk away from the club due to feeling exhausted with the modern manager's job.
The Dutch head-coach was expected to take at least one season to settle into life on Merseyside, and fans were anticipating a natural transitional period that could see reduced levels of on-pitch success.
However, Slot won the English top flight at a canter in 2024-25, securing Liverpool's record-equalling 20th title with four games to spare, and though the Reds were knocked out of the Champions League by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain, they impressively topped the league phase and reached the League Cup final.
With their continued success, a number of players in the club's ranks have elevated their status in Anfield history, and are now mentioned amongst the best players to walk out at the famous stadium.
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 for the number 11 spot.
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 on number six 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, Joe Gomez) 3. Alan Kennedy (Gerry Byrne, Joey Jones, Steve Finnan, Fabinho) 4. Virgil van Dijk (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, Ibrahima Konate) 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, Dominik Szoboszlai) 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, Curtis Jones) 18. Dirk Kuyt (John Arne Riise, Cody Gakpo) 19. Sadio Mane (Ryan Babel, Harvey Elliott) 20. Javier Mascherano (Diogo Jota, 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. Ryan Gravenberch (Jon Flanagan)** 39. Craig Bellamy 40. Daniel Ayala (Ryan Kent) 41. Mark Smyth 42. Trey Nyoni (Nabil El Zhar) 43. Stefan Bajcetic 44. Jordon Ibe (Brad Smith) 45. Mario Balotelli 46. Rhys Williams (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 (Vitezslav Jaros) 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 HillID:396946:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect11502: