Liverpool's Premier League goalkeepers - ranked

The potentially apocryphal story goes that after Liverpool's legendary goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence apologised to his manager Bill Shankly after he had been nutmegged to concede a goal.

"Sorry, boss, I should have kept my legs together," Lawrence said. Quick as a flash, Shankly shot back: "No, Tommy, your mother should have kept her legs together!"

Lawrence, a two-time league champion in the 1960s, is a key member in the pantheon of great Liverpool goalkeepers. However, the likes of Ray Clemence, Elisha Scott and Sam Hardy all patrolled the posts before the Premier League's inception.

Nevertheless, there have been plenty of talented goalkeepers that managed to keep their legs closed for Liverpool in the last three decades. Here are some of the best.

10. Brad Friedel

By Friedel's own admission, he didn't get off to a great start at Liverpool. "My first three months there was probably the worst I played in my whole life," he later analysed.

The American settled down thereafter but never fully cemented his status as the club's undisputed first-choice.

9. Chris Kirkland

Signed on the same day in 2001 as Jerzy Dudek (another entrant on this list), Kirkland had to wait three years before he got a consistent run as the team's number one.

It was only a fleeting first-team berth between the posts for the cap-wearing keeper before establishing a solid Premier League career at Wigan.

8. Loris Karius

Karius was never afforded the chance to make another Premier League appearance for Liverpool after his error-strewn display in the 2018 Champions League final.

Yet, that anomalous outing came while Karius was suffering from a concussion which limited his vision after an earlier collision with Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos. Across the four months leading up to the showpiece, Karius had kept 11 clean sheets in 20 appearances.

7. Sander Westerveld

Formerly the most expensive goalkeeper in English football history when he signed for £4m at the turn of the century, Westerveld won a treble with Liverpool in 2001.

However, the Dutch shot-stopper was far more influential during his debut campaign on Merseyside, keeping 14 Premier League clean sheets and boasting a 76% save rate despite his tender age of 24.

6. David James

The name 'Calamity James' doesn't exactly lend itself to a goalkeeper's hagiography but the former England number one was always harshly treated compared to his peers.

In any case, James was not alone in playing Tekken II and Tomb Raider until the early hours of the morning in the late 1990s - it was during his time at Liverpool when James pinned his errors on a video game addiction.

Nevertheless, Liverpool finished in the top four in four consecutive seasons with James between the sticks (and on the joystick) - a feat they didn't repeat until a decade later.

5. Bruce Grobbelaar

Had the scope of this list been broadened to encompass the 1980s, then Bruce Grobbelaar would find himself considerably higher.

The six-time top-flight champion was past his peak by the Premier League's inception in 1992 but still coasts into the rankings on the back of his legendary history.

4. Simon Mignolet

The first goalkeeper of Jurgen Klopp's tenure at Liverpool, Mignolet did his best work on Merseyside before the German arrived.

However, that didn't stop Klopp from describing the Belgian international as one of "the most standout professionals I’ve worked with in the game".

3. Jerzy Dudek

While Dudek's entire Liverpool career is often reduced to an experimental dance routine in Istanbul, only four other goalkeepers have made more Premier League appearances for the Reds.

Dudek's Feyenoord manager Leo Beenhakker dubbed the big Pole as "the best goalkeeper I've seen in 30 years". He didn't replicate those heights throughout his Liverpool tenure but will forever have a spot in club folklore for his penalty shootout heroics in the 2005 Champions League final.

2. Pepe Reina

Blessed with supreme confidence when the ball was at his feet, Reina showed all the skills expected of a goalkeeper that came through Barcelona's academy.

Though that's not to say that the three-time Premier League Golden Glove winner was unconvincing with his hands; as Liverpool challenged for the top-flight title under Rafael Benitez, Reina became famed for his ability to launch a counter-attack by hurling the ball forward.

Few goalkeepers in the history of the division, widening the scope beyond just Liverpool, have demonstrated the same revered skillset.

1. Alisson

The only Liverpool goalkeeper to ever score a Premier League goal was also the best at keeping them out of his own net.

A leader in the modern school of possession-centric goalkeeping, even when the rest of his teammates endured a collective dip during the 2022/23 season, Alisson seemed to play even better. Understandably, Klopp described the "insane" Brazilian as "the best goalkeeper in the world".

READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP