Liverpool’s 1,149-game pursuit of following up on Dalglish’s team
LONDON: Liverpool have played 1,149 games since the start of the 1990-91 season. That is 103,410 minutes (not including injury time) spent on the pitch in pursuit of that 19th title.
They have won 595 of those matches (which is a win percentage of around 52%), scored 1,968 goals (for an overall goal difference of +822) and taken 2,075 points.
However, all but 28 of those wins, 70 of those goals and 86 of those points were ultimately amassed in a vain attempt at league glory.
The highest number of points they have claimed from a single opponent over the three decades is the 108 points they have taken off Tottenham from 60 encounters between the two.
They have won 105 points against Merseyside rivals Everton, while West Ham have been plundered for 101.
They have a 100% win record against Brighton, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Notts County, although the most number of times they have faced any of those sides is the five games they have played against the Seagulls.
Since the start of the 1990-91 season, 239 players have represented Liverpool in the top flight.
Their quest for a 19th title began with a 3-1 win at Sheffield United on 25 August 1990, the goals scored by John Barnes, Ray Houghton and Ian Rush. This was one of eight straight victories as part of a 14-game unbeaten run at the start of that season.
Of the 239 players used in all that time, academy product Jamie Carragher has made the most league appearances in a Liverpool shirt in the past 30 years, playing in 508 games for the club.
There are some familiar names in the top 10 appearance-makers in that time, but only one member of the current squad makes the list – captain Jordan Henderson, courtesy of his 266 matches.
The bosses
Kenny Dalglish delivered Liverpool their 16th, 17th and 18th titles and began the defence of the latter as the Reds’ manager. He would leave before that attempted defence was complete, shocking the club by resigning on 22 February 1991, with them three points clear at the top of the table.
A combination of caretaker boss Ronnie Moran and permanent successor Graeme Souness were unable to retain the top-flight trophy, which instead went to Arsenal.
In total, Liverpool have had nine permanent managers since the start of the 1990-91 season.
This includes a rare joint-manager tenure at the start of the 1998-99 season between Roy Evans, who had been in sole charge but to diminishing returns for four seasons, and Gerard Houllier, who would continue on his own after Evans resigned just four months into the shared arrangement.
Excluding Souness, who was only in charge for the final five games of 1990-91, four managers have taken Liverpool to within one place of league glory during the past 30 years – Houllier (2001-02), Rafael Benitez (2008-09), Brendan Rodgers (2013-14) and Jurgen Klopp (2018-19).
All but Roy Hodgson (who didn’t last a season in the job) and Rodgers (who came agonisingly close) won a trophy with the club.
In Klopp, though, they have finally found a successor to King Kenny’s crown. The German is the only Reds manager since Dalglish left (including the Scot himself during his second spell) with a win percentage over 60.
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