Karius to wear #1: Liverpool’s last six #1’s

Loris Karius has grabbed the number one shirt for Liverpool. Here are the past six to wear the shirt in the Premier League era, none of which were the club’s last two starting keepers.

A more glamorous number than those brought to the club at the same time, Loris Karius is lucky that the standard no. 1 kit for the position was open. In a rather fortuitous situation for the German, neither of Liverpool’s last two starting keepers took that jersey.

Pepe Reina took #25 while Simon Mignolet is still occupying #22. Karius already has the numerical advantage to match his superior ability. Brad Jones last wore the kit. Yeesh.

Since the dawn of the Premier League when players were cemented into their numbers, a total of six keepers have worn the shirt. Unlike the anonymous #32 that Joel Matip is grabbing as well as the non-glamorous #19 Sadio Mane has opted for, there’s some history behind the number that Karius will find himself wearing.

Of the six, four have accrued appearances that’ve breached three digits. One of them has nearly as many as Steven Gerrard.

Thankfully for Karius, the last two (alleged) shot-stoppers were, putting it politely, not exactly convincing. It’s not as if he’s the first player to grab #8 after Gerrard or how Emre Can stepped straight into #23 when Jamie Carragher retired.

Players sorted from least appearances to most. As always, shouts to LFCHistory.net for the information.

Next: 6. Diego Cavalieri