As the most decorated team in England, with 48 major trophies, and as one of the giants of European football, Liverpool has had some of the greatest players ever to represent them. With the club’s success spanning several decades, these players come from different eras but they all have one thing in common and that is the fact that they have won trophies with Liverpool and were successful individuals as well. Here is the list of Liverpool's greatest and best XI of all time.

Goalkeeper: Ray Clemence

Ray Clemence is one of the most decorated Liverpool players and one of the most proficient goalkeepers. The Englishman's constant presence in the Liverpool squad during the 70s and 80s was a big part of the Red's domination of the league back then and it’s the reason he gets the nod here. Because of his reactionary saves and reflexes, he soon became Liverpool's first-choice goalkeeper. Ray Clemence is only one of 29 players who have over 1000 career appearances and for Clemence 665 of those appearances were at Liverpool. With 5 league titles, 3 European Cups (now known as the Champions League), 2 UEFA Cups, 1 FA Cup and a League Cup, Clemence is surely one of the most decorated players in our best Liverpool XI of all time.

Right Back: Phil Neal

Liverpool is no stranger to having world-class right-backs, having the likes of Alexander Arnold, but players like Phil Neal are hard to come by as he is truly one of the best ever. Although much of the early and latter stages of Neal’s career came at the lower levels of English football, mostly in the Third and Fourth Divisions, the success he achieved in the 11 years he spent at Liverpool is reason enough for him to be included in all-time greatest XI of Liverpool. He tended to drift to the middle of the park as well to create long-range shooting or passing opportunities. He was also a great penalty-kick taker which resulted in him scoring over 40 goals for Liverpool in the league. Phil Neal ended up winning the English top-flight 8 times as well as winning four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four European Cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup. This amount of dizzying accomplishments at the club level makes him one of the most decorated English players of all time.

Left-back: Andy Robertson

Scotland’s current captain, Andy Robertson, is one of the best fullbacks in football right now, if not the best. The Scotsman is one of the pillars of Jurgen Klopp’s team as the German manager likes to utilize his two full-backs as his main playmakers and Robertson has done an exceptional job of that with the many assists he has provided in recent years which makes him the perfect player for the left-back position in Liverpool greatest XI of all time. Andy Robertson’s potency in the attack has been proven by the consistent number of assists that he has made over the past 3 years at Liverpool. Robertson has made 38 assists in the Premier League in the past 2 seasons and a half and has helped Liverpool win the title after 30 years. He has also reached two Champions League finals with Liverpool and has won it once, playing a vital role in both campaigns.

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Centre back: Alan Henson

One of several Scottish legends in the Liverpool Football Club is the Jockey himself, Alan Hensen.  An elegant player on the ball as well as being a great defender Henson is the perfect centre-back on this list. Alan Hensen’s 14-year career at Liverpool started in 1977 when he joined the Reds from the Glasgow based club, Partick Thistle. Alongside Dalglish and Souness, Hensen became part of a Scottish core to a very successful Liverpool side as they became perhaps the greatest English team ever. With 620 appearances for Liverpool, Hensen is among the players with the most appearances for Liverpool. He has won 8 league titles, 4 League Cups, 3 European Cups and 2 FA Cups with Liverpool which is just unbelievable for any player to achieve. He also represented Scotland 26 times which included appearing in the 1982 World Cup.

Centre back: Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch defender. He is a generational talent when it comes to defending. He is a complete defender with modern sensibilities that can assist in the build-up of the attack in addition to being an unstoppable force in defence. It was the last piece of the puzzle that made Liverpool a genuine challenger for every trophy out there and that has been sufficiently proven by the consecutive Champions League and the Premier League title they have won since van Dijk has been there. These alongside the numerous individual trophies that van Dijk has won make him the perfect candidate for our best Liverpool XI of all time.

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Midfielder: Graeme Souness

Grames Souness helped Liverpool achieve immense success and became one of the most decorated Liverpool players of all time. Souness at some point even was the manager of Liverpool between 1991 and 1994 but as a player, he joined Liverpool from Middlesbrough in the January of 1978 and went on to play for the Reds for the following 6 seasons. In Souness’ six and a half years at the club, Liverpool won the league 5 times as well as winning 3 League Cups and 3 European Cups. He even became Liverpool’s captain towards the end of his tenure and he ended his career at Liverpool in style, by winning a European Cup in 1984. Graeme Souness made 359 appearances for Liverpool and scored 59 goals for the club as well as representing his country Scotland in 44 matches and 3 different World Cups. He has won 11 major trophies as a player and an FA Cup as a manager with Liverpool.

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Midfielder: Steven Gerrard

During his 17 stays at Liverpool, Steven Gerrard became their greatest player of all time which is no small feat, as Liverpool is the most successful club in England. Despite playing in an era without any domestic glory for Liverpool, Gerrard helped the club reach 3 European finals, 2 of which they won largely thanks to him. He is probably the greatest captain Liverpool has ever seen. Gerard made 710 appearances for Liverpool scoring 186 goals and assisting at least 100 more. He won 3 League Cups, 2 FA Cups, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 Champions League with Liverpool. He helped Liverpool reach another Champions League final in 2007 which they ended up losing he is considered by many to be one of the greatest midfielders of all time he is right at the centre of midfield in our best Liverpool XI of all time.

Midfielder: John Barnes

Built like a Rugby player the Left-footed John Barnes was an absolute nightmare to any defender he came up against throughout his career at Liverpool. Barnes joined Liverpool on what was to be the end of their Golden Age when a lot of players on this list featured. so Barnes’ first 4 seasons at Liverpool were when the bulk of his success happened. He mainly operated on the flanks and ended up consistently scoring more than 15 goals a season which in turn helped Liverpool secure 2 league titles as well as an FA Cup. Barnes’ personal best season was the 1989-90 season where he scored 28 goals in all competitions and was named Footballer of the Year. Barnes appeared in 403 matches for Liverpool and scored 106 goals, which is an incredible amount of goals for a left midfielder. He ended up winning 2 league titles, 2 FA Cups and a League Cup title with Liverpool and becoming their best midfielder ever.

Forward: Kenny Dalglish

There can’t be any bigger legends than Kenny Dalglish since the man became one of the best Liverpool players of all time in his playing days and then immediately became one of their most successful managers ever. Sir Kenny Dalglish started his Liverpool career in 1977, having joined them from Celtic after achieving massive success with the Scottish club. He possessed an incredible level of technology which allowed him to find pockets in the opposition’s defence and exploit them, either through creating chances or scoring goals. He scored 169 goals in 502 matches for Liverpool which resulted in them winning 6 league titles, 4 League Cups, 3 European Cups and an FA Cup were not enough for the Scotsman, he went on to become Liverpool’s manager as well and ended up winning 3 league titles and 2 FA Cups in that role as well.

Forward: Ian Rush

When it came to scoring goals for Liverpool, no one has ever been better and more successful than the legendary Ian Rush. The Welshman seemed like he would find the net even if he was half asleep. The Welsh superstar joined Liverpool in 1980 when he was only 18 years old and soon partnered with the more experienced Kenny Dalglish in attack to make up Liverpool’s greatest attacking partnership ever. Rush then went on to become Liverpool’s record goal scorer, a record that is doubted to be broken any time soon. Despite being a lifelong supporter of Everton, Liverpool’s arch-rivals, Rush chose Liverpool as his next destination after having impressed at Chester City. Liverpool paid £300,000 to Chester, a then-record amount for a teenager, and Rush soon proved well worth it. His natural finishing ability helped Liverpool win several trophies as well as helping him win a European Golden Boot in 1984. Ian Rush’s 346 goals in 660 matches for Liverpool helped the Reds win 5 league titles, 5 League Cups, 3 FA Cups and 2 European Cups. His position as Liverpool’s top goal scorer of all time is fairly secure as no one has ever come close to his numbers.

Forward: Mohammed salah

Back in 2017 when Salah came back to the Premier League, no one would’ve thought that the once Chelsea reject would turn out to be the Player of the Season and Golden Boot winner in his debut season for the Reds but the 44 goals he scored that season proved otherwise. Although the Egyptian’s numbers since hasn’t been as good as his first season, he has proved a consistent goal scorer for the Reds which is one of the main reason of their success in recent years. Having scored 113 goals in 180 matches for Liverpool and helping them win a 30-year awaited league title on the back of a sweet Champions League title from the season before, Mohammad Salah is fast becoming one of Liverpool’s greatest players.

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