Owen is Mr ton-derful

Michael Owen’s second strike against West Brom on Saturday took him to the 100 Premier League goal milestone for his club.

Owen was already a member of an elite band of just 10 players who have scored a century of goals in all competitions for the Anfield club in the post-War period, and he has now scored 138 goals in all for them.

PA Sport takes a look at the legendary hot-shots Owen rates alongside.

Ian Rush (1980-1987 & 1988-1995). First-team games: 658. First-team goals: 346. Liverpool’s all-time greatest goalscorer. Signed from Chester for £300,000 in 1980, he formed a formidable partnership with Kenny Dalglish and holds the 20th century record for most FA Cup goals (44) and shares with Geoff Hurst the League Cup scoring record (49). Has the all-time Mersey derby record of 25 goals against Everton and won Europe’s Golden Boot with 32 League goals in 1984.

Roger Hunt (1959-1970) Games: 492. Goals: 286. His 245 League goals between 1959 and 1969 stands as a club record, as does his single season total of 41 in the 1961-62 Second Divisin promotion campaign.

Billy Liddell (1938-1960). Games: 537. Goals: 229. Starred in Liverpool’s 1946-47 championship season. During Liverpool’s 1950s Second Division wilderness years they were nicknamed ‘Liddellpool’ because of the shining talents of the player who was their top scorer in eight seasons. Liddell died from Alzheimer’s disease in July 2001.

Kenny Dalglish (1977-90) Games: 511. Goals: 172. Considered by many to be the greatest player in Liverpool history after joining for £440,000 from Celtic to replace Kevin Keegan, Rush benefited more than most from his creativity. Holds joint record for Scotland with 30 international goals from 102 appearances.

Robbie Fowler (1993-2001) Games: 330. Goals: 171. Widely regarded as one of the best finishers in Europe, scored 18 goals in his debut season and became the first Liverpool player for six years to pass the 30-goal mark in 1994-95, repeating the feat the following year before long-injury lay-off and several controversies reduced his goalscoring capacity. Subsequently sold to Leeds, and has since moved on again to Manchester City.

Ian St John (1961-1971) Games: 426. Goals: 118. A then club record £37,500 signing from Motherwell, he became an instant hero for Liverpool fans by scoring a debut hat-trick against Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup final. St John’s most famous goal was his header at Wembley in 1965 to bring the FA Cup to Anfield for the first time.

Jack Balmer (1935-1952) Games: 313. Goals: 111. In the 1946-47 Liverpool lifted the first post-war championship and during November of that season Balmer earned a niche in the record books by hitting three consecutive league hat-tricks. He also scored five in the next four games to give him 15 goals in seven matches. Died on Christmas Day 1984.

John Barnes: (1987-97) Games: 409. Goals: 108. Barnes’ impact earned him the votes of both the football writers and PFA awards as the 1988 double Footballer of the Year. He linked up with other new recruits Peter Beardsley, Ray Houghton and John Aldridge in a swashbuckling line-up that swept to the Championship in style, with Barnes scoring 15 times in 38 outings as Liverpool equalled the record of 29 League games unbeaten from the start of the season

Kevin Keegan (1971-1977). Games: 323. Goals: 100. Converted from midfielder to striker by Bill Shankly, formed a formidable partnership with John Toshack. Scored after just 12 minutes on his debut and signed off with a European Cup win before moving to Hamburg. Won European Footballer of the Year twice.