Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypiä both recently made their 300th League appearances, with Gerrard doing so at home to Blackburn Rovers, and Hyypiä following suit at Fulham on Saturday.

Skipper Gerrard started his reds career from the bench in November 1998, coming on for his first appearance in the final minute of a 2-0 victory against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield. He was rewarded the following week with his first full start, but that ended in defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. He went onto make twelve League appearances that season, most of them from the bench.

He established himself in the following season, playing 29 times in the League. Despite being troubled with growing pains and niggling injuries, he notched up in excess of thirty League outings in six of the following seven seasons, and has only missed two League fixtures to date this time around.

Steven has also struck 55 times in the top flight, with the eleven he has grabbed in this campaign a new season's best. He has another milestone in sight as he is only four goals away from a century in all competitions for the reds.

Finnish international centre-back Sami Hyypiä signed for Liverpool back in May 1999 for the princely sum of £2.6m from Dutch side Willem II, and he has recently penned a new one-year extension to his contract. He has a cameraman and ex-Liverpool secretary Peter Robinson to thank for his move to Anfield. The cameraman covered a lot of football over Europe and was aware that Liverpool were after a strong centre-half. He knocked on the door of Peter Robinson and recommended Hyypiä to him. The message was passed on to Gérard Houllier and after a couple of scouting trips Liverpool had their man.

He made his debut in the opening game of the 1999/2000 season away at Sheffield Wednesday, wearing the number twelve shirt as part of a defence that also included Vegard Heggem, Jamie Carragher and Dominic Matteo. He played in every top flight match that season, and was ever present again in 2003/04, only missing six League fixtures in the intervening three seasons.

When Sami's form dipped, the captaincy was handed to Steven Gerrard in October 2003, although the big Finn kept his place in the team. He said at the time:

"Of course I am not happy about it. But I feel relief now that I can get used to the idea that I am not captain anymore. I don't feel myself as a worse player because I don't have the armband anymore. There was nothing dramatic over changing the captaincy. I didn't say anything because it was the manager's decision and I respect that. I believe that captaincy will bring Gerrard to a new level. He's a young and talented English player, who has a great future ahead of him. I am not happy about our start to the season. We have to play better and we will do that. If the change of captaincy helps, then it's a good decision."

Hyypiä was a regular again in Rafael Benítez's first two seasons in charge, but was restricted to 23 League outings last campaign, a figure he surpassed in the derby two weeks ago. He has also contributed a valuable 21 strikes in his 300 League run-outs to date.

41 players in the club's history have played more times than the long-serving pair in the League, with their colleague Jamie Carragher out in front among the current squad with 356 League appearances to date.