England’s festive footballing schedule may continue to bemuse incoming overseas managers, but it remains one of the best days on the calendar for us as fans.
The Reds are the Christmas No. 1 for the fourth time in the last seven seasons and were just one point off pace-setters Arsenal this time 12 months ago.
A visit from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester awaits us on Boxing Day this time around, with Arne Slot and his side looking to keep one foot down and leave the challengers in our wake heading into the New Year.
But how have we fared on this day in recent times?
Let’s take a look at the last 10 Boxing Day clashes and see which one ranks as our favourite of the lot!
10. Stoke 3-1 Liverpool – 2012
The Britannia Stadium wasn’t a particularly happy hunting ground during Brendan Rodgers’ spell at Anfield and Boxing Day 2012 was a pretty gloomy affair as far as we were concerned.
Liverpool went in front inside two minutes when Steven Gerrard converted from 12 yards but came unstuck almost immediately after when the insufferable Jon Walters levelled proceedings.
Kenwyne Jones then put the Potters ahead after just 12 minutes and it was Walters who doubled the advantage with a decisive third on a day when the Reds struggled to live with the customary long-ball football of a Tony Pulis side.
9. Man City 2-1 Liverpool – 2013
The 2013/14 season was among the most fun times to have ever been a Liverpool supporter, but it came with a rare Boxing Day roadblock.
The Reds were in the process of turning themselves into unlikely contenders under Rodgers, fuelled by the attacking firepower of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge with a reinvigorated Gerrard at the base of midfield.
Captained by Suarez and having just picked up four straight wins, Liverpool got their noses in front through Philippe Coutinho and things were looking rosy for the Christmas Day leaders.
But we were pegged back by Vincent Kompany and Alvaro Negredo before the interval, leading to a defeat which saw Rodgers’ side fall from first to fourth in the space of 24 hours.
8. Liverpool 1-1 Blackburn – 2011
Blackburn’s last league trip to Anfield saw Liverpool deliver a late Christmas present to then-manager Kenny Dalglish‘s former side.
Charlie Adam opened the scoring at the wrong end with the visitors rooted to the bottom of the table and it was left to Maxi Rodriguez to spare the Reds’ blushes with a header to continue a hot goalscoring streak.
Anfield attempted its trademark of sucking the ball into the Kop net but there was no such joy, with Liverpool finding themselves sat sixth at the close of play.
7. Liverpool 1-0 Leicester 2015
Leicester have historically been a popular festive choice for Liverpool by the fixture computer, as was the case when Jurgen Klopp got his first taste of an English Christmas back in 2015.
While it often gives the tasteless sections of their fanbase a bemusing opportunity to bring up poverty at a football match, the Reds have tended to enjoy more than their fair share of success on the pitch.
We were forced to wait over an hour for the game’s only goal at a chilly Anfield, but Christian Benteke’s winner was enough to halt the champions-elect in their tracks.
6. Burnley 0-2 Liverpool – 2023
From the first to the last Boxing Day outing of the Klopp era, the Reds cemented their place at the top of the pile with a 2-0 win at Turf Moor.
Liverpool were made to work for it, though, with a late clincher from Diogo Jota enough to wrap up proceedings following Darwin Nunez‘s opener on six minutes.
Away wins are never easy to come by in the Premier League and it was a signal that the Reds meant business in their quest to end their legendary manager’s stay on the highest possible note.
Ultimately, it wasn’t to be and the wait for No. 20 was extended by at least another year, but who knows how long we will have to remain patient for on that front.
5. Burnley 0-1 Liverpool – 2014
In recent times, Liverpool have twice taken the short trip to Turf Moor while still digesting Christmas dinners and in 2014 it was Raheem Sterling’s turn to notch the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory.
Brad Jones (remember him?) was forced off after just a quarter of an hour with a thigh problem and replaced by Simon Mignolet, who was himself returning from a brief spell on the sidelines.
It was by no means pretty, but the Reds secured an all-important three points at a stadium which is no picnic at the best of times.
4. Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool – 2022
Liverpool’s impressive 3-1 victory over Villa was unusual in that it came at the end of a 44-day break from Premier League football.
Top-flight duties had been temporarily put on hold owing to the first-ever winter World Cup in Qatar, but the Reds picked up where they left off courtesy of goals from Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and the first of Stefan Bajcetic’s professional career.
It was also a big night for 17-year-old Ben Doak, who was handed his debut by the manager in what was a brief but impressive cameo from the bench.
The night was full of positives but it was otherwise a campaign to forget for the Reds relatively speaking, falling out of the Champions League spots for the first time in seven seasons.
3. Liverpool 5-0 Swansea – 2017
The 2017/18 season is best remembered for the exhilarating run to Kyiv, but there were more than a handful of scintillating domestic displays to complement the European fireworks.
The Reds showed no Christmas mercy against the eventually relegated Swansea at Anfield, hitting the front early doors through Coutinho with what was a quite brilliantly taken final goal for the club.
He samba’d the night away with compatriot Roberto Firmino, who delivered two of the five blows after the break to go alongside the efforts of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
2. Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle – 2018
Liverpool were relentless in their pursuit of the league title in 2018/19 and the 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle at Anfield was no exception.
Xherdan Shaqiri stole the show in what was a relatively rare start for the Swiss international, helping to set up Dejan Lovren‘s thunderous opener before later making it 3-0 with a composed short-range finish of his own.
Shaqiri’s goal was sandwiched between a Salah penalty and late Fabinho header, with the Reds spurred on by Anfield at its best and full of festive cheer.
The win kept Liverpool at the top of the pile en route to a record-setting 97-point tally that was agonisingly bettered by Man City in May.
1. Leicester 0-4 Liverpool – 2019
There was only ever going to be one winner when it came to picking the best of our Boxing Day offerings from across the last few years.
When the Reds travelled to the King Power on December 26 2019, Rodgers’ Leicester were unexpected contenders to the throne they had spectacularly occupied just three years earlier.
Alexander-Arnold wreaked havoc as he and his teammates swatted aside an opponent that had been deemed their biggest hurdle.
When you win the league as convincingly as Liverpool did in 2019/20, it affords fans the luxury of handpicking the moment they allowed themselves to believe the title was destined to return to Anfield.
You’d struggle to find a more significant step on that journey than the one Klopp’s side took on that night in the East Midlands, one of the club’s truly all-time great away wins.
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