Liverpool owner John W Henry believes that the Merseyside city and Boston have strong similarities.

The 64-year-old took over the Reds with Fenway Sports Group in 2010 to rescue the Premier League outfit from the brink of bankruptcy.

After three years of ownership, Henry has said in a speech to the Boston Chamber of Commerce that the resemblances of both cities pushed him to take over at Anfield.

"Liverpool has a large Irish Catholic population, it's a seaport on a famous river, both cities are about 45 square miles in size, both have around 600,000 people, both are college towns," the Daily Mail quotes Henry as saying.

"Boston had the first public library, Liverpool had the first lending library. Both cities have pioneered medical advancements during the decades and both have the largest economic powers in the world exactly 213 miles to the south by car. Both cities will excoriate me for comparing them, but like it or not they are kindred spirits."

FSG bought the club from fellow American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett.