Why the shirts of two recent Man United legends are permanently displayed in Liverpool's away dressing room at Anfield

Liverpool and Manchester United are arguably the biggest rivals in and yet, two United legends are have their shirts proudly displayed inside Anfield.

Over the past century, few rivalries have been as heated as the one between United and Liverpool, with their annual matches widely considered one of the biggest occasions on the football calendar.

After facing off in 215 matches, it is United who have the most wins with 83, wins while Liverpool gotten the better of their rivals 72 times with 60 draws.

Therefore, with such a bitter rivalry between the clubs, why do Liverpool choose to respect two recent United greats by displaying their shirts in the away changing room at Anfield?

When Liverpool fans visit Anfield, they may notice that the shirts of both Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo shirts are hanging from the walls of the changing room alongside the shirts of several other footballing greats.

And the reason that they United legends shirts are in the changing room is because former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher picked them as two of the greatest players he has ever faced.

While the home changing room displays the shirts of the current first team, on non-match days for stadium tours, Liverpool choose to hang the shirts of some of the biggest opposition names to play at Anfield.

Other big names that can be seen in the changing room are Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro and several others.

Carragher has previously been critical of Ronaldo, claiming that he is nowhere near the level of Messi, who he is often compared to as two of the greatest footballers of all time.

Jamie Carragher played against Cristiano Ronaldo several times in the Premier League. (Image: Getty)

But recently, while speaking to Football365, he discussed just how great the striker was: "Ronaldo became a great player at United.

“In his last two years he was the main man. But when he initially came in, United had so many great players that he wasn’t going to be one you built a team talk around. He never really gave us too many problems.

“It always fascinates me with Ronaldo – I would describe him as one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, but normally when other players fall into that category they’re goalscorers their whole life, from the first time they kick a ball. Ronaldo wasn’t. He almost made himself a goalscorer. That’s down to his work ethic and his mental strength. That, for me, has always been his biggest quality."