There are some opposition strikers that Liverpool fans will always dread their side facing.
When it comes to the forwards who have developed that awful habit of repeatedly haunting the Reds throughout their careers, it doesn’t matter which club they play for, what form they are in or even the size of the occasion, their eyes light up at the sight of Liverpool on the fixture list.
As certain as death and taxes, you just know they are always scoring when it’s time to face the Reds.
Didier Drogba is arguably Liverpool’s chief tormentor in modern times, scoring 11 times and registering seven assists from 30 appearances.
Only two of those goals might have come in the Premier League, but by netting to help knock the Reds out of the Champions League semi-finals and quarter-finals, as well as from the UEFA Cup with Marseille, and in Chelsea FA Cup and League Cup final victories, his dreaded presence nearly always guaranteed Liverpool misery.
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Such was the Ivorian’s form against the Reds during his playing career, it doesn’t matter that he is now 43 years old, if he somehow made a miraculous comeback in the League Cup final on Sunday, despite hanging up his boots four years ago, Kopites would still be waking up in the middle of the night in nervous sweats, convinced the striker would be Chelsea’s Wembley match-winner. Yet again.
The likes of Andrew Cole (11 goals), Jamie Vardy (10), Thierry Henry (9), Olivier Giroud (8) and Sergio Aguero (7) also all enjoyed their own private successes against Liverpool, with even former Stoke City man Jon Walters (7) finding a way to regularly torment the Reds.
Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers signed Christian Benteke (7) from Aston Villa in the summer of 2015 in an attempt to stop his side’s woes when facing the Belgian.
But there was a time when Romelu Lukaku looked set to be Drogba’s heir apparent as Liverpool’s new primary tormentor.
Starting his Premier League career with Chelsea in 2011, alongside the Ivorian, when just 18 years old, the comparisons were inevitable.
And while he might have made just 15 appearances for the Londoners without scoring during his first stint with the club, he was prolific in the two campaigns he spent out on loan with West Bromwich Albion and Everton as he first started to bully the Reds.
He marked his Baggies debut with a goal off the bench over Rodgers' Liverpool in a 3-0 win on the opening day of the 2012/13 season, before scoring in a famous 2-0 win at Anfield in February 2013.
The striker then netted a brace on his Merseyside derby debut for Everton in a famous 3-3 draw at Goodison in November 2013, taking his total to four goals from his first four Premier League clashes with the Reds from just 150 minutes of action.
In truth, such a run might mean he stills feel like a Liverpool nemesis to some.
However, he has failed to live up to such fortunes since leaving Chelsea permanently in 2014, and has scored just once in his last 12 appearances against the Reds - in Brendan Rodgers' last game as manager in October 2015.
Meanwhile, he has beaten Liverpool just once since West Brom completed the double over them in 2012/13 - coming at Old Trafford in his first season with Manchester United.
As a former Everton and United player who now represents Chelsea, he should be Anfield public enemy number one. Yet perhaps his recent failings against the Reds protect him from the possibility of any Liverpool vitriol. Despite early promise, Kopites don't loathe the false prophet.
Lukaku will be hoping to improve that record when he takes on the Reds at Wembley on Sunday, but in truth he comes into the final low on confidence.
He might be Chelsea’s leading scorer with 10 goals since re-joining the club in a £97.5m from Inter Milan in the summer, but his future with the club is already uncertain just six months after returning to Stamford Bridge with the striker reportedly unhappy and keen to return to the San Siro.
The Belgian was mocked after recording a Premier League low seven touches against Crystal Palace last weekend, before being dropped and left as an unused substitute against Lille last time out.
Yet if ever there was time for him to turnaround his fortunes, silence his doubters and live up to the Drogba comparisons, it is in a showpiece Wembley final.
Lukaku has form when it comes to final appearances too. While he has only ended up on the winning side once, he has nearly always had some say on proceedings one way or the other.
Only a few weeks ago he was on the scoresheet in Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup final win over Palmeiras, while he scored at both ends when Inter Milan lost in the 2020 UEFA Cup final to Sevilla.
Meanwhile in European Super Cups, he missed the decisive penalty in Chelsea’s defeat to Bayern Munich in 2013 and was on the scoresheet for Manchester United when they lost to Real Madrid in 2017, with his other final appearance being a 1-0 loss to the Londoners when with the Red Devils in the FA Cup in 2018.
Lukaku’s recent form means he is by no means guaranteed to win his place back to start against Liverpool on Sunday, while the Reds have got the better of him more times than not in recent years.
But they would be foolish not to be wary of the £97.5m man’s credentials at Wembley.
Now 28, the striker should be at the peak of his powers and if he is to step out of Drogba’s shadow, match-winning performances in finals need to follow.
And as a former Blue and Red Devil locking horns with Liverpool, the stage is set for the Belgian to deliver a killer blow. But does he have it in him to land such a strike?
Lukaku might not be enjoying his best season back at Chelsea, but despite being the Premier League’s 'joke' figure this week following that dismal outing against Palace, he has proven repeatedly for club and country over the years why, on his day, he is one of the continent’s deadliest strikers.
Beware the wounded lion.
