How Jurgen Klopp topped Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley with landmark win

February 15, 2023
Jack Lusby

He may have been left to wait during a frustrating run of form, but Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Everton was the 250th of Jurgen Klopp‘s reign.

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo were enough to seal a win in the Merseyside derby, ending a run of four games without victory in the Premier League.

It was a much-needed result for the Reds as they endure a difficult campaign, moving them one place up to ninth, three points behind sixth-placed Brighton and nine away from the top four.

These are little victories for Liverpool at this stage, but Klopp will be hoping they can work towards a return to the success he has enjoyed throughout his time in charge.

If seven trophies and four runners-up medals were not proof enough of that, Opta highlighted the German’s outstanding record as his side recorded a landmark win.

250 – Tonight was Jürgen Klopp's 250th win as Liverpool manager in all competitions. It was his 414th game in charge of the Reds, reaching the milestone win quicker than any of the previous three managers to do so for the club (Paisley 448, Shankly 472 and Watson 539). Landmark. pic.twitter.com/DBmzzJrDQn

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 13, 2023

Victory over Everton was the 250th of Klopp’s reign at Liverpool in all competitions, reaching that milestone faster than any other manager in the club’s history (414 games).

In fact, only three others have done so, those being Bob Paisley (in 448 games), Bill Shankly (472 games) and Tom Watson (539 games).

It should be noted that Opta statistics count wins and losses via penalty shootouts as draws, with LFCHistory data crediting Klopp with 256 wins in his 414 games.

His win ratio of 61.84 percent is higher than any other manager in Liverpool history apart from the club’s second-ever boss, John McKenna (69.44%), who only took charge of 36 games.

Unsurprisingly, Paisley (535), Shankly (783) and Watson (742) are the only others to take charge of 400 or more games.

At his current rate, Klopp would be on course for 484 wins if he were to oversee as many games as Shankly, which would be 77 more than the legendary Scot enjoyed in his storied tenure (407).

Klopp is contracted to the club until 2026, with it unlikely that he stays beyond that point – and therefore, it is unlikely that any Liverpool manager will ever take charge of more games than Shankly.