This is the first of a new series for
the 2013-14 Premier League season which will focus unashamedly on success for
Liverpool down the years. For each
league fixture we will highlight my five favourite wins against the upcoming
opposition. So be warned, if you’re
looking for coverage of matches where your favourite team has put one over on
Liverpool, then move along or write some yourself as there’ll be nothing to see
here for you.
17th April
1976
LIVERPOOL (2) 5
(Neal, pen 37, Toshack 43, Kennedy 51, Hughes 73, Fairclough 78)
STOKE CITY (1) 3
(Conroy 30, Moores 60, Bloor 89)
LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Smith, Thompson, Hughes, Smith; Case
(Fairclough), Callaghan, Kennedy; Toshack, Keegan, Heighway
STOKE: Shilton; Marsh, Mahoney, Dodd, Pejic; Robertson, Bloor,
Salmons; Moore, Conroy, Greenhoff
This was Bob Paisley’s
first League title winning season in only his second since taking over from
Bill Shankly. QPR had emerged as the
surprise challengers, leading the league up to November. Liverpool had only hit the top in February
but then struggled to keep their League form as well as compete in the UEFA
Cup. They’d just knocked out Barcelona
to reach the UEFA Cup Final and then Stoke City visited Anfield with just 3
games to go.
Stoke, managed by Tony
Waddington had Peter Shilton in goal and were the livelier to begin with. With half an hour gone Terry Conroy converted
a right-wing cross to give the visitors the lead. It was the first time Clemence had been
beaten in the league for 6 games. Within
minutes a clumsy challenge from Marsh on Keegan gave Liverpool a penalty and
Phil Neal beat Shilton to equalise. Just
before the break, Toshack and Keegan combined to find Heighway on the left and
his cross was turned in by Toshack to give Liverpool a half-time lead.
Early in the second half
and Keegan picked the ball up just inside the Stoke half, ,made room for
himself and then picked out a lovely through ball for Ray Kennedy to run onto
and he slid the ball in for a 3-1 lead.
10 minutes later and a long ball from Stoke left-back, Mike Pejic had
Greenhoff causing problems in the home defence and Ian Moores was on hand to
head in to grab a goal back. Then with
20 minutes to go came a characteristic run from the back from Emlyn Hughes and
he played a one-two with Keegan on the edge of the box and then fired the ball
past Shilton for a memorable goal. 5
minutes later Keegan found Kennedy free in the area and he got to the bye-line
to pull it back where substitute David Fairclough converted it for Liverpool’s
5th. It was David “super-sub”
Fairclough’s 3rd goal in 4 home games when coming on as a sub. Bloor got a goal back for Stoke but Liverpool
were worthy winners. It was a win which
took them back to the top as QPR lost at Norwich. Liverpool went onto lift the trophy beating
QPR by 1pt. They also won the UEFA Cup
that season too.
27th December
1976
LIVERPOOL (1) 4
(Thompson 5, Neal pen 62, Keegan 67, Johnson 81)
STOKE CITY (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hughes, Jones; McDermott,
Callaghan (Johnson), Kennedy; Toshack, Keegan, Heighway
STOKE: Shilton, Marsh, Smith, Bloor, Pejic; Dodd, Waddington,
Bithell; Tudor, Salmons, Robertson
When Stoke came back to
Anfield the following December, Liverpool were again in 2nd place in
the league just behind Ipswich on goal difference. Liverpool had won a17pts from a maximum 18 at
home and Stoke were yet to win away.
Phil Thompson gave
Liverpool and early lead in the 5th and that was the difference
between the two sides at the break. Phil
Neal doubled lead when he scored from the spot just on the hour and then 5
minutes later, Kevin Keegan made things certain as he scored Liverpool’s 3rd. Into the last 10 minutes and substitute,
David Johnson completed the scoring with the home side’s 4th. Liverpool went back to the top of the table
as Ipswich were held at Coventry.
3rd April 1981
LIVERPOOL (1) 3
(Whelan 27, McDermott 52, 81)
STOKE CITY (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Kennedy; Lee, Case,
McDermott, Whelan; Dalglish, Rush
STOKE: Fox; Evans, Doyle, Dodd, Munro; Ursem, O’Callaghan,
Bracewell; Maguire, Heath, Chapman
Stoke again visited
Anfield in April but this time Liverpool were 10pts off the lead in the League
as they were chasing other trophies. Two
days before this fixture they’d beaten West Ham to lift their first League Cup
when they won 2-1 in a replay. Ian Rush
made an impression in that game and retained his place for this match. Ronnie Whelan gave Liverpool a first half
lead as he marked his debut with a goal.
Whelan was one of several players Paisley had introduced that season as
he sought to rebuild a double European Cup winning side. Early in the second half Terry McDermott put
the home side 2-0 up and then he completed the scoring 9 minutes from the end. 1980-81 was a vintage year for McDermott as
he topped the scoring charts even beating Kenny Dalglish. This win moved them up to 4th but
they never threatened as Aston Villa won their first title for 70 years. Liverpool had to console themselves with
their first League Cup and a third European Cup as they beat Real Madrid in
Paris.
5th March 1983
LIVERPOOL (2) 5
(Dalglish 7, 47, Neal 35, Johnston 76, Souness 89)
STOKE CITY (0) 1
(Bracewell 49)
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Kennedy; Lee,
Johnston, Souness, Whelan; Dalglish, Rush
STOKE: Fox; Parkin, Berry, Watson, Hampton; McIlroy, Thomas,
Painter (McAughtrie); O’Callaghan, Chamberlain, Bracewell
When Stoke arrived at
Anfield they found the hosts again unbeaten and leading the table by
14pts. Liverpool had already booked
their annual trip to Wembley for the League Cup but had just returned from trip
to Poland where they lost to Widzew Lodz in the first leg of their latest
European Cup tie. This was Bob Paisley’s
final season as Liverpool manager and the team were keen to make sure they
added to their haul of League titles.
The Stoke side included
former Man Utd players, Mickey Thomas and Sammy McIlroy as well as future
Everton midfielder, Paul Bracewell and Mark Chamberlain, Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Dad. Kenny Dalglish
opened the scoring for the home side inside the first 10 minutes and then Phil
Neal scored against Stoke yet again when he made it 2-0 10 minutes before the
break. Just into the second half and
Dalglish scored his 2nd of the game.
Bracewell got a goal back for the visitors minutes later by Craig
Johnston and Graeme Souness rounded things off to give Liverpool an impressive
5-1 win.
Liverpool ended up
winning their third successive League Cup and their 6th League
Championship under Bob Paisley as they finished 11pts clear of Watford.
19th August
2009
LIVERPOOL (2) 4 (Torres 4, Johnson 45, Kuyt 78, Ngog 90)
STOKE CITY (0) 0
LIVERPOOL: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Ayala, Insua; Lucas,
Mascherano; Benayoun, Gerrard (Voronin); Kuyt (Riera), Torres (Ngog)
STOKE: Sorensen; Higginbottom, Shawcross, Wilkinson, Whelan;
Whitehead (Pugh), Faye, Delap, Etherington; Beattie (Lawrence), Cresswell
(Fuller)
When Stoke visited
Anfield at the beginning of the 2009-10 they were into their 2nd successive
season in the top flight after a gap of 23 years. This was the first home game of the season
for Liverpool who’d just come off a 1-2 defeat at Spurs. Liverpool had finished the previous season in
2nd place in what was probably their best chance of winning the
Premier League title. They hadn’t lost a
league game at Anfield since December 2007, a run of 30 games.
They began this new
season in fine form and ahead as early as the 4th minute as a burst
from Steven Gerrard on the right saw him pull the ball back and Fernando Torres
was on hand to drill the ball past Sorensen.
Liverpool doubled their lead right on half-time from a corner as Kuyt’s
low header was blocked on the line by Sorensen and Glen Johnson knocked in the
rebound for a goal on his debut. Johnson
was involved in many of Liverpool’s best efforts and he was involved in the 3rd
goal when he found Gerrard with a clever pass and the captain’s low cross was
turned in by Kuyt from close range. Then
in injury time Johnson was again involved as Ngog, a 2nd half
substitute for Torres, headed in from just under the bar.
It was a good, fluent
performance but the season frustrated throughout and at the end of it, Rafa
Benitez left the club.
HEAD TO HEAD at Anfield
Matches: 62
Liverpool win: 46
Stoke win: 3
Draws: 13
Liverpool goals: 134
Stoke goals: 40
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