Dirk out for 50 at Stoke
Dirk Kuyt is chasing one goal to make it 50 in the Barclays Premier League for Liverpool at Stoke City on Saturday. Here are all the facts and figures from club statto Ged Rea.
Head to Head: (League only)
At Stoke: Liverpool 12 wins, Stoke 24 wins, 20 draws.
Overall: Liverpool 55 wins, Stoke 27 wins, 30 draws.
Last season Stoke won 2-0 in the Potteries with Ricardo Fuller scoring on 56 minutes and Kenwyne Jones sealing the points on the stroke of full time after Lucas had been dismissed for two yellow card offences.
Liverpool replied in kind at Anfield - also winning 2-0. Luis Suarez scored on his debut, just 16 minutes after coming on as a second half substitute. Earlier Raul Meireles had put the Reds ahead.
The Reds have scored only three times in the last six visits - conceding six in that time.
Liverpool's biggest away league win at Stoke came in March 1982 when they won 5-1 with Terry McDermott, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Sammy Lee and Ronnie Whelan all scoring. That is the only time Liverpool have won a league game at Stoke by more than two goals.
Liverpool have lost only three of their last 18 league visits.
Home and away Liverpool have lost only two of the last 22 meetings - last season and in April 1984 when they went down 2-0 at the Victoria Ground with former Red Colin Russell scoring one of the goals.
Liverpool have never won at the Britannia Stadium in the league with two draws and a defeat in the three meetings.
They have scored once in those games - Sotirios Kyrgiakos netting in the 1-1 draw in January 2010.
No Liverpool player has scored a league hat-trick at Stoke. However two players have achieved the feat at Anfield. Andy McGuigan became the first to score five goals in a game for the club as the Reds won convincingly 7-0 in 1902 while Roger Hunt netted four in a 6-1 victory on Boxing Day 1963.
The only Reds player to score a hat-trick at Stoke was Robbie Fowler in a 8-0 League Cup win at the Britannia in November 2000.
Glen Johnson scored his first Liverpool goal against Stoke at Anfield in August 2009.
Maxi Rodriguez made his Liverpool debut as a substitute at the Britannia Stadium in January 2010.
Stewart Downing scored on this ground last season for Aston Villa but after giving his side the lead saw them lose 2-1.
Only 10 goals have been scored in the six Barclays Premier League meetings between the sides.
Only once since losing at Stoke last season have Liverpool failed to score away from home in the league - at Aston Villa in May.
A win will equal the Reds' best start to a Premier League campaign - they took 10 points from the opening four games in 1994-95, 1998-99, 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Liverpool have won five out of 10 away league games since Kenny Dalglish took over in January. The Reds won five of the previous 27 on the road before his return.
This is Stoke's fourth successive season in the Premier League. They have finished 12th, 11th and last season 13th.
Stoke's biggest home win over Liverpool came in February 1897 when they won 6-1.
City have scored just 13 goals in their last 18 home league games against Liverpool.
They are looking to record back to back home league wins over Liverpool for the first time since 1967-68.
Last season Stoke drew at home with Manchester City and Chelsea, beat Arsenal and only an 86th minute winner gave Manchester United victory at the Britannia.
Matthew Etherington made his Stoke debut against Liverpool at the Britannia in January 2009.
Jermaine Pennant scored three goals in 81 games for Liverpool from 2006-08. He found the net three times for Stoke in the Barclays Premier League last season in 29 appearances.
Peter Crouch could make his Stoke debut against the Reds just over two years since he made his first appearance for his last club - Tottenham - against Liverpool. Spurs won 2-1.
Crouch has scored once against Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League. He scored in Southampton's 2-0 win in January 2005.
Wilson Palacios could also play his first game for City following his transfer from Tottenham. Four years ago he made his Birmingham debut at Anfield in a 0-0 draw.
Last season Stoke reached their first FA Cup Final - losing to Manchester City.
Tony Pulis is the only Welshman currently managing in the top-flight and last season became the first man from his country to lead his team into the Final as a permanent manager - Jimmy Murphy who took Manchester United to the Wembley in 1958 was acting as caretaker boss.
City have lost only once at home in the league in 2011 - the last day of the season against Wigan - the week after appearing at Wembley.
Stoke started last season with seven losses and a draw in their opening 11 games. This term they are unbeaten after draws with Chelsea 0-0 (home) and Norwich 1-1 (away) and recorded their first league win with a 1-0 victory at West Brom.
They have also reached the group stages of the Europa League winning all four qualifying games. It is their third ever European campaign having played a total of four games in the previous two.
Both Stoke league goals this season have been scored from the 89th minute onwards.
Scorers this season: (League in brackets):
Liverpool: Suarez 3 (2), Adam 1 (1), Carroll 1 (0), Henderson 1 (1), Maxi 1 (0), Skrtel 1 (1), own goals 1 (1).
Stoke: Jones 3 (1), Shotton 2 (1), Pugh 1 (0), Upson 1 (0), Walters 1 (0), Whelan 1 (0).