Players who played for Aston Villa and Liverpool

Which footballers have played for both Aston Villa and Liverpool? It's exactly the kind of link that wins rounds of The Connection, our football trivia game. Every player below has been checked against his career record, including loan spells.

Quick quiz: how many can you name before you look? There are 16 in our list.

Show all 16 players

Player	Country	Aston Villa	Liverpool
Steve Staunton	Republic of Ireland	1991–1998 & 2000–2003	1986–1991 & 1998–2000
Ray Houghton	Scotland / Republic of Ireland	1992–1995	1987–1992
Dean Saunders	Wales	1992–1995	1991–1992
David James	England	1999–2001	1992–1999
Stan Collymore	England	1997–2000	1995–1997
Brad Friedel	United States	2008–2011	1997–2000
Øyvind Leonhardsen	Norway	2002–2003	1997–1999
Emile Heskey	England	2009–2012	2000–2004
Milan Baroš	Czech Republic	2005–2007	2001–2005
James Milner	England	2005–2006 & 2008–2010	2015–2023
Pepe Reina	Spain	–	2005–2014
Scott Carson	England	2007–2008 loan	2005–2008
Stewart Downing	England	2009–2011	2011–2013
Joe Cole	England	2014–2016	2010–2013
Christian Benteke	Belgium / DR Congo	2012–2015	2015–2016
Philippe Coutinho	Brazil	2023–2025	2013–2018

Quick facts

16 players in our verified list have played for both Aston Villa and Liverpool.
The most common countries are England (7), Republic of Ireland (1), Scotland (1).
The earliest in our list is Steve Staunton; the most recent is Philippe Coutinho.
1 player made the link through a loan spell, including Scott Carson.

Test yourself

In The Connection you get two clubs and a country, and the first to name a player who links them wins the point. Try it with your mates, or take on today's daily.

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