Emmy-award winning actor name-drops Liverpool stars in brilliant acceptance speech

Comedian and actor John Oliver surprised Hollywood last night by listing off some of Liverpool's typical starting eleven in his acceptance speech after winning an Emmy award.

Oliver, who is famous for his late-night talk and news satire programme 'Last Week Tonight' - won his 15th Emmy on Monday night at the star-studded award ceremony in Los Angeles. The British comedian became the inaugural winner of the 'Outstanding Scripted Variety Series' category for his Last Week Tonight show and he proceeded to thank the staff, before thanking the show’s lawyers, who he claimed "are angry with us all the time”.

Following that, he went on to claim he needs to get his children Pokemon cards, and asked for help in sourcing them in LA. “I promised them Pokemon cards, and I don’t know where to get Pokemon cards in LA, so if anyone knows where to get Pokemon cards between here and LAX, it’s a significant problem I’ve worked myself into!" he joked. After that, he told the audience he wouldn’t finish before being told to by host Anthony Anderson’s mother and that's when he decided to list off the Liverpool football XI. “I am not leaving without getting played off by Anthony Anderson’s mum, so I’m going to start reading off the names of the Liverpool football team. In goal, Alisson Becker, then you’ve got Trent Alexander-Arnold, then you’ve got Virgil van Dijk obviously — oh she’s not here, I can get through the whole team then!” He then quickly wrapped up his speech with a “I’d like to thank Jesus and my family,” after Anderson's mother stood up to encourage him to cease his speech and he exited the stage to massive acclaim from the audience.

Fans of the comedy sitcom 'Community' will remember that Oliver was seen draped in a Liverpool scarf in one early-season episode where his character in the show was seen supporting Liverpool in a fantasy game against Manchester United - but the inclusion of the side in his speech was certainly a surprising one. He is one of a long list of famous celebrity fans of the club which also includes Daniel Craig, Harry Potter Jason Isaacs and comedian John Bishop, to name a few.