FeatureWho are Liverpool's all-time top goalscoring substitutes?
Ryan Babel was frequently a goalscoring substitute during the Liverpool phase of a career that he called time on last weekend.
The former Netherlands forward confirmed his retirement from playing the game in a message on social media, having represented clubs including AFC Ajax, the Reds, Hoffenheim, Besiktas, Fulham and Galatasaray.
Babel made 146 appearances across his three-and-a-half years at Anfield after arriving in 2007, with more than half of his 22 goals coming when sent on from the bench.
That tally sits the Dutchman in the top ranks of scoring subs in LFC history – here, we take a look at the leading 10, which includes three current Reds…
7 goals – Djibril Cisse
A recruit from Auxerre in the summer of 2004, Cisse’s first season with the Reds was affected by a broken leg that ruled him out for almost six months.
It did, however, end in Champions League glory in Istanbul.
The France international featured more frequently in 2005-06 and all seven of his goals as a substitute for the club came in that campaign – including a crucial brace when Rafael Benitez’s team came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 in the UEFA Super Cup.
8 goals – Steven Gerrard, Darwin Nunez
Gerrard, fittingly on eight, and Nunez share a spot here.
The former’s total was a minor percentage of his whopping 186 goals for the Reds, of course, but did feature a rapid European hat-trick when he scored three times in 14 second-half minutes to deliver an Anfield turnaround against Napoli in 2010.
Nunez, meanwhile, provided two of the most dramatic moments of 2023-24 from the bench – his clinical match-winning double for 10-man Liverpool at Newcastle United and the winner at Nottingham Forest nine minutes into added time.
9 goals – Diogo Jota
Jota’s first goal after joining Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2020 was as a substitute in a home victory versus Arsenal.
Other impactful cameos from the Portuguese include a strike in the League Cup thriller with Leicester City in December 2021 en route to the Reds winning the trophy that term.
And, of course, there was his perfect composure amid the chaos when he arrowed in the dramatic decider as Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 4-3 at Anfield last April.
12 goals – Ryan Babel, Divock Origi
Babel is keeping some excellent company in joint-fifth place on this list.
The Dutchman’s dozen included two in the 8-0 Champions League victory over Besiktas in 2007 and a winner when Manchester United visited Anfield in the Premier League in September 2008.
Origi’s catalogue, of course, features some iconic moments in club history: a 96th-minute winner in a Merseyside derby and the clinching strike against Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final the two most indelible.
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Watch on YouTube13 goals – Daniel Sturridge
Sturridge’s 13 goals as a substitute for Liverpool started on January 13, 2013.
Not so unlucky for the former England forward, whose collection included a couple of particularly special interventions.
There was a leaping header to make it 3-3 at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby of November 2013, while the last of his tally was that sumptuous long-range leveller at former club Chelsea almost five years later.
14 goals – Mohamed Salah
Salah’s position on this list is all the more impressive given the infrequency of his use from the bench: just 34 of his 366 Liverpool appearances to date have come as a substitute.
And yet the Egyptian has scored at a rate of almost one-in-two during them.
Highlights include a brace in six minutes at Stoke City during his debut season with the Reds, and a Champions League hat-trick at Rangers in October 2022 that was netted in a tournament-record time period of just six minutes and 12 seconds.
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Watch on YouTube16 goals – Roberto Firmino
Firmino jumped some way up this list over the course of his final two seasons at Liverpool, with 10 goals netted as a substitute across 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The Brazilian’s most memorable efforts off the bench had really come prior to then, however.
There was a stunning half-volleyed winner at Stoke in April 2017, his stoppage-time decider against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League at Anfield in September 2018, and the strike that saw off CF Monterrey in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final of December 2019.
His last three home goals for the Reds, meanwhile, were all late efforts after coming on – 88th minute v Manchester United, 87th minute v Arsenal and 89th minute v Aston Villa.
18 goals – David Fairclough
‘Supersub’ himself remains unequalled.
On 18 occasions across eight years the striker was a scorer for Liverpool from the bench, including one of the most famous examples of all time – his comeback-sealing finish against Saint-Etienne with six minutes left in the European Cup quarter-final second leg of 1977.
And, a little under a year earlier, Fairclough had delivered a stunning solo goal in the 88th minute to secure a 1-0 success over Everton, dribbling from the halfway line and driving home a low finish in the Merseyside derby.
His knack accounted for a third of his overall tally (55) for the Reds by the time he said farewell to Anfield in the summer of 1983.
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