Featured Image Credit: Getty/Sky Sports
Topics: Steven Gerrard, Liverpool, Premier League, Champions League, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane
Luke Davies
Topics: Steven Gerrard, Liverpool, Premier League, Champions League, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed who his toughest four opponents were during his playing career.
Gerrard was one of the best midfielders of his generation, having played 710 times for his hometown club.
The 44-year-old scored in Liverpool’s miraculous Champions League comeback in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan. You may be expecting Gerrard’s picks to be one of his opponents from that night in Istanbul as he faced Andrea Pirlo, Kaka and Gennaro Gattuso.
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A year later, he netted a stunning volley in the dying embers of the FA Cup final against West Ham United to send the game to extra-time with Liverpool winning on penalties.
Although he never managed to get his hands on a Premier League trophy, Gerrard’s contributions in a red shirt will live long in the memory of fans.
The former centre-midfielder named four ex-Premier League winners as his ‘top four’ toughest opponents when speaking to then-10-year-old George Mathias in 2017.
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After jokingly saying former Liverpool teammate Jamie Carragher was “the easiest”, he then gave his thoughts.
“The hardest? Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard,” he said.
“They were all tough players.”
Gerrard is regularly compared to former England teammates Scholes and Lampard, having all been part of England’s ‘Golden Generation’ of talent that failed to go further than a quarter-final at an international tournament during the 2000s.
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There is arguably no correct answer to the debate as Scholes was known for his passing and creativity, Lampard for his late goalscoring runs into the penalty, while Gerrard was seen as a ‘complete’ midfielder who could essentially do a bit of everything.
Against Keane, Gerrard came away with five wins from ten games against the Irishman, with the ex-Manchester United man winning on four occasions with one draw.
As for Lampard, he was Gerrard’s most regular opponent - having competed against each other 34 times. The Liverpool man won 11 times, lost 16 times and drew seven times against the former Chelsea midfielder.
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When facing Viera, who played against Gerrard for Arsenal and Inter Milan, Gerrard won seven games, lost five times and drew three of their 15 meetings as players.
Scholes had the edge over Gerrard from a team perspective, having faced the Liverpudlian 21 times, the ex-United man won 12 times, with Gerrard sporting just eight wins when facing Scholes, with one draw.