Brawls, nine-goal thrillers, hat-tricks and four-goal salvos: 10 classic Liverpool-Leeds battles – in pictures

Jurgen Klopp's Premier League champions take on the newly promoted Leeds managed by Marcelo Bielsa

August 10, 1974 - Leeds United 1 (Cherry 70') Liverpool 1 (Boersma 19'). Liverpool win 6-5 on penalties: The Charity Shield, now called the Community Shield, is generally a gentle curtain-raiser to the new English top-flight season. But this infamous, bad-tempered game, the first Charity Shield to be held at Wembley Stadium, will always be remembered for the brawl after an hour between Liverpool's Kevin Keegan and Billy Bremner of Leeds. Keegan had actually been floored by a punch by Johnny Giles but took out his frustrations on the first person he saw after picking himself up off the floor. That player was fiery Scot Bremner. Both players would end up removing their shirts after being sent-off. Both were fined and banned for 11 games by the Football Association. Shutterstock

April 13, 1991 - Leeds United (Chapman 68', 81' & 88'; Shutt 77') 4 v Liverpool 5 (Houghton 11', Molby pen 16', Speedie 25', Barnes 28' and 79'): An epic, if ludicrous, game in the old First Division at Elland Road saw Liverpool leading 4-0 by the half-hour mark before a remarkable late fightback by Leeds. Liverpool and England winger John Barnes was in majestic form, scoring two and assisting with another couple, while striker Lee Chapman's quickfire hat-trick nearly earned the home side an unlikely point. Liverpool, who had Ronnie Moran as caretaker manager after Kenny Dalglish quit two months earlier, would finish second in the league, two places ahead of Howard Wilkinson's Leeds. Getty

August 8, 1992 - Leeds United 4 (Cantona 26', 77' & 87'; Dorigo 43') Liverpool 3 (Rush 34', Saunders 65', Strachan og 89'): Another Charity Shield between the two teams, but this one was memorable for all the right reasons as the new Premier League era was introduced in fine style. Charismatic French striker Eric Cantona cracked a brilliant hat-trick for the reigning champions to peg back Graeme Souness' Liverpool who had twice fought back from a goal down to level at 2-2. Gordan Strachan's late own goal made it a nervy finish but Leeds would hold on for the victory at Wembley. Cantona would score the first Premier League treble, against Tottenham that same month, but his frustration at failing to command a regular place in the starting XI and the direct tactics of manager Howard Wilkinson would see him join Manchester United for the paltry fee of £1.2 million in November. Getty

January 20, 1996 - Liverpool 5 (Ruddock 27' & 90', Fowler pen 62' & 68', Collymore 89') Leeds United 0: Roy Evans' free-scoring side put Leeds to the sword at Anfield in the Premier League. Defender Neil Ruddock would grab the first and last goals, with prolific strike-pairing Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore scoring the others. Liverpool finished the campaign third behind Manchester United and Newcastle, while Leeds would languish down in 13th and manager Howard Wilkinson's eight-year reign would be over by September. PA

February 19, 1997 - Liverpool 4 (Fowler 21', Collymore 36' & 37', Redknapp 87') Leeds United 0: Another battering for Leeds at Anfield with Fowler and Collymore again inflicting the damage. The dynamic duo put Liverpool three up before the break, with Collymore scoring two in as many minutes. Jamie Redknapp put the icing on the cake with three minutes to go as Liverpool finished the season fourth, but missed out on second-place and the Champions League by goal difference. Leeds, under George Graham, ended the season 11th. Getty

November 14, 1998: Liverpool 1 (Fowler pen 68') Leeds United 3 (Smith 79', Hasselbaink 81' & 86'): After a miserable run against the Merseysiders that had seen them lose six and draw one of the last seven matches in all competitions, Leeds finally came out on top after a late goal flurry at Anfield. A Robbie Fowler penalty, after Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn nearly decapitated Karl-Heinz Riedle, looked to have put Liverpool on the road to another win. But David O'Leary was assembling a strong Leeds side and three goals in seven minutes, including a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink double, turned the game on its head. The Yorkshire club would finish the season fourth, three points and three places ahead of Gerard Houllier's Liverpool. Getty

November 4, 2000: Leeds United 4 (Viduka 24', 47', 73' & 75') Liverpool 3 (Hyypia 2', Ziege 18', 61'): A classic Premier League battle that Liverpool fans must still wonder how they ended up losing. There is a simple reason for that: Mark Viduka. A four-goal blast from the Australian striker denied Houllier's side that had been leading 2-0 and 3-2 and heading for a sixth-straight victory. "We have no-one to blame but ourselves," said Houllier after the match. "We got lucky," admitted Leeds manager O'Leary. This would still be a fantastic season for Liverpool, though, who would finish third in the league to pip Leeds for a Champions League spot and also seal a memorable cup treble by winning the FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Cup. Getty

April 13, 2001: Liverpool 1 (Gerrard 54') Leeds United 2 (Ferdinand 4', Bowyer 33'): Leeds completed the double over their league rivals with an impressive performance at Anfield where first-half goals from Rio Ferdinand and Lee Bowyer put them firmly in the driving seat. Steven Gerrard pulled Liverpool back into it just after the break but the midfielder would later be shown a second yellow card that allowed Leeds a relatively stress-free final 20 minutes. But not only would Liverpool have the last laugh by grabbing the last Champions League spot, but this would represent Leeds' last victory over the Reds in any competition. Allsport

February 3, 2002 – Leeds 0 Liverpool 4 (Ferdinand og 17', Heskey 61' & 63', Owen 90'): A disastrous result and performance for Leeds in what would turn out to be a catastrophic season in the club's history. Rio Ferdinand, who had opened the scoring when the teams met 10 months earlier, could only find his own net this time round. Emile Heskey, who had been struggling for goals all season, managed a double, while Michael Owen's fourth goal in injury time put the icing on the cake for Liverpool. The Reds would finish the season second behind champions Arsenal, while Leeds' failure to reach the Champions League meant the club could no longer afford to sustain the huge amount of debt wracked up on transfer fees and wages in previous seasons. What followed in the next few seasons was barely believable: the fire sale of star players, relegation down to the third-tier, administration and nearly being expelled from the Football League. Getty

February 29, 2004 – Leeds 2 (Bakke 29', Viduka 34') Liverpool 2 (Kewell 21', Baros 42'): The last top-flight meeting between the two clubs was a pulsating game at Elland Road. All the goals came in the first half as Harry Kewell opened the scoring against his former club with a curling finish. Two goals in five minutes - from Erik Bakke and Mark Viduka - put Eddie Gray's team ahead only for Milan Baros to restore parity. A point for Leeds but the loss of a host of star players in the impossible job of balancing the club's books would prove too much. They were relegated after finishing second bottom and would not return to the Premier League until 2020. Getty

Saturday sees two of English football's most famous teams go head-to-head at Anfield when Liverpool take on Leeds United.

It seems quite remarkable that the last time these clubs met in the Premier League was more than 15 years ago.

The financial meltdown caused by catastrophic over-spending at the turn of the new millennium would result in Leeds dropping down the divisions and almost go out of business.

The rebuilding process has been long and painful, but after years of trying, the Yorkshire club are finally back in the top-flight, led by their unorthodox and much-admired Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola describes Bielsa as "absolutely at the top of the list" of football coaches, while Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp has called the 65-year-old "an outstanding coach, an outstanding role model".

The Merseysiders, meanwhile, have just ended a 30-year English title drought after winning the Premier League by a mammoth 18-point margin over City in a season that only ended in July after a Covid-19-enforced hiatus.

Ahead of Saturday's game, we are taking a look back at 10 classic clashes between the two clubs in the photo gallery above.

To move on to the next picture, click on the arrows, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.

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