The following names top the list: Suarez? Fowler? Salah? Owen?
Luis Suarez however, faces his old club on Tuesday when Atletico Madrid host Liverpool in the Champions League.
Suarez is the Reds’ fifth highest-scoring forward of the Premier League era with 69 goals in 110 games, before going on to win trophies at Barcelona and now Atletico.
But where would you rank him among the best Liverpool have had in that time?
Read about their top 10 goalscoring forwards (so not counting Steven Gerrard) in the league since 1992-93 and rank them below.
Robbie Fowler (1993-2001, 2006-07)
Robbie Fowler scores twice for Liverpool against Aston Villa in 1996 FA Cup semi-final
PL goals: 128 PL games: 266 PL assists: 30 Mins per PL goal: 158
No Liverpool player has scored more Premier League goals than Robbie Fowler, the only man to net more than Gerrard.
Nicknamed ‘God’ by Liverpool fans and the most natural of finishers, he is the Reds’ sixth top scorer ever in all competitions.
He would probably have scored many more goals if not for a bad injury at the age of 22 – with 83 of his 128 league goals for the Reds before then.
Michael Owen (1996-2004)
On this day in 2001: Owen scores two late goals for Liverpool to win FA Cup
PL goals: 118 PL games: 216 PL assists: 30 Mins per PL goal: 143
Another who, like Fowler, would have scored more if not for injury. Owen remains the only Liverpool player to win the Ballon d’Or – back in 2001 – the year he won five trophies for the club (including two minor ones).
Lightning fast and a lethal finisher, only Fowler and Gerrard scored more Premier League goals for Liverpool than Owen – despite the fact he left for Real Madrid at the age of 24 and never came back.
He slightly sullied his Liverpool reputation by joining Manchester United later on in his career.
Mohamed Salah (2017-)
PL goals: 102 PL games: 153 PL assists: 37 Mins per PL goal: 126
Mohamed Salah’s arrival from Roma in 2017-18 was probably one of the most decisive moments in recent Premier League history.
He joined a team who had not won a trophy in five seasons and only just qualified for the Champions League.
His four seasons with the Reds have seen a Champions League win, and a final defeat, a Premier League title winners’ medal and two Golden Boots. Not bad for someone who is not even a striker by the old definition.
Sadio Mane (2016-)
Sadio Mane.
PL goals: 79 PL games: 170 PL assists: 27 Mins per PL goal: 175
Mane joined Liverpool the season before Salah and has enjoyed a similar amount of success, sharing the Golden Boot in 2018-19 with Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Two months older than Salah, he falls behind his team-mate on goals, assists and scoring rate.
Luis Suarez (2011-14)
PL goals: 69 PL games: 110 PL assists: 23 Mins per PL goal: 139
Uruguay striker Suarez was a huge hit in three and a half seasons with Liverpool, winning the Golden Boot with 31 goals in 2013-14, the season they almost won the league.
The 2012 League Cup was the only trophy he won in his time in England.
He went on to greater success in Spain – winning La Liga in five of his seven years there, a Champions League, and he is Barcelona’s third top scorer ever (198 goals).
Roberto Firmino (2015-)
Roberto Firmino
PL goals: 70 PL games: 217 PL assists: 43 Mins per PL goal: 236
One of Liverpool’s current iconic front three with Salah and Mane, Firmino is the centre-forward in the team but only averages a goal every two and a half games.
He does have more assists than anybody else on this list though.
Fernando Torres (2007-2011)
Fernando Torres
PL goals: 65 PL games: 102 PL assists: 12 Mins per PL goal: 121
Torres had the best minutes-per-goal ratio – and fewest games played – of any Liverpool forward on this list.
Like Suarez, Torres played three and a half seasons for Liverpool (only managing more than 24 league games once) without a load to show for it – before going on to fill his trophy cabinet elsewhere.
Torres played more times for Chelsea than Liverpool after his £50m move to Stamford Bridge, scoring fewer goals, but won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup there.
Dirk Kuyt (2006-2012)
Archive: Late Kuyt strike knocks Man Utd out of FA Cup
PL goals: 51 PL games: 208 PL assists: 27 Mins per PL goal: 309
Dutchman Kuyt was popular for his work-rate but was far from a prolific frontman for Liverpool. He played more than 30 Premier League games in each of his seasons at Anfield but never scored more than 13.
A League Cup in his final season was all he had to show for his time in England, trophy-wise.
Daniel Sturridge (2013-2019)
Daniel Sturridge
PL goals: 50 PL games: 116 PL assists: 15 Mins per PL goal: 136
England striker Sturridge scored 50 Premier League goals for the Reds but 62% of them came in the first 23% of his time at the club.
He netted 31 Premier League goals in his first season and a half, finishing second only to Suarez in the Golden Boot race of 2013-14. The pair formed a lethal combination that season, taking the club to the brink of the title.
Injuries plagued him after that and he never hit double figures in a league afterwards for the Reds, West Brom or Trabzonspor.
Ian Rush (1992-1996, Premier League era)
Ian Rush
PL goals: 45 PL games: 130 PL assists: 9 Mins per PL goal: 235
League goals: 229 League games: 469 Mins per lg goal: 175
Ian Rush is Liverpool’s top goalscorer full stop – 346 in total, 229 in the league.
But he was 30 when the Premier League was established in 1992 so most of his goals came before then. However, having played for Liverpool for 15 years over two spells, his minutes-per-league-goal stat still ranks below most of the other players on this list.
He still managed a decent 45 Premier League goals in four seasons before leaving for Leeds.
BBC Sport
