The 2013–14 season was Liverpool Football Club's 122nd season in existence and their 52nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football. This was also the club's 22nd consecutive season in the Premier League. Along with the Premier League, Liverpool also competed in the FA Cup and Football League Cup.
Liverpool enjoyed a memorable season, scoring 101 league goals; the highest number of goals scored by a Premier League runner-up, until 2020, when Manchester City scored 102 goals while finishing second. It is also the fifth highest number of goals ever scored in the Premier League.
Luis Suárez finished as the Premier League's top scorer with 31 goals, winning the Premier League Golden Boot as well as the PFA Players' Player of the Year, while Daniel Sturridge was the league's second highest scorer with 21. Steven Gerrard topped the official Premier League assists chart with 13.
Liverpool had a pre-season dominated by speculation about whether Luis Suárez would leave the club. Suárez had served four matches of a ten-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanović in the previous season, and Arsenal reportedly agreed terms and offered £40,000,001 for the player based on a rumoured £40 million release clause in Suárez's contract. Suárez stated he would like to leave the club and was then told to train away from the first-team squad. On 8 August, Liverpool owner John W. Henry stated that Suárez would not be allowed to leave the club.
A Simon Mignolet penalty save on the opening day gave Liverpool the first of three 1–0 victories to begin the season. A subsequent draw and loss saw Liverpool drop to fifth place on the table when Suárez completed his ban. From the next match until the end of the season, Liverpool would average 2.9 goals per game. They were top of the table at Christmas before back-to-back 2–1 defeats away at Manchester City and Chelsea. In that key Manchester City fixture, Raheem Sterling was onside by well over a metre but had his goal disallowed for offside in an "awful decision" that both BT Sport commentators called as onside immediately, saying "you could see it with your naked eye".
A 5–1 home win over then league-leaders Arsenal on 8 February featured four Liverpool goals in the opening 20 minutes. With a mid-week 90th-minute penalty at Fulham, Liverpool won again and the winning run would eventually extend to 11 games, included Liverpool defeating title rivals, Manchester City, on 13 April, in the same week as the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. A subsequent mid-week Manchester City draw meant Liverpool would win the league if they got ten points from their remaining 4 games.
Their next match was a 2–3 away win at Norwich City that secured Liverpool's pre-season aim of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. However, the following 0–2 home defeat to Chelsea put the title back in Manchester City's favour due to their significantly better goal difference. That pivotal match was marred by Chelsea's "comically brazen" time-wasting, that went unpunished until the 93rd minute by Martin Atkinson (despite José Mourinho telling his players he wanted "at least two bookings for time-wasting before half-time"), and it is foremost known for a Steven Gerrard slip that led to Chelsea's key goal by Demba Ba. Gerrard has spoken of his anguish over the slip, saying it was "even tougher than what people probably think it was". Other key moments cited as playing a part in Liverpool falling short of the title include the previously mentioned incorrectly disallowed goal by Raheem Sterling at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, Kolo Touré passing the ball to Victor Anichebe allowing West Bromwich Albion to earn a draw on 2 February and Jordan Henderson's 93rd minute sending-off (and associated three-match ban) in the home game versus Manchester City, which Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers thought was "a huge miss for us" because Liverpool "couldn't replace Jordan".
Liverpool's attempts to reverse Manchester City's +9 goal difference advantage in their penultimate game against Crystal Palace saw their initial 0–3 lead pegged back to a 3–3 draw. Liverpool finished in second place, two points behind Manchester City, after they defeated Newcastle United on the final day. This represented the closest the club had come to winning the league title since 1990.
The season was the first since 1995–96 without Jamie Carragher, who retired from professional football after the 2012–13 season.
First team
As it stands on 11 May 2014
Squad No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth Signed from Apps Goals Assists Goalkeepers1Brad JonesGK Middlesbrough 22 0 022Simon MignoletGK Sunderland 40 0 052Danny WardGK Wrexham 0 0 0Defenders2Glen JohnsonRB/LB Portsmouth 172 8 133José EnriqueLB Newcastle United 87 2 84Kolo TouréCB Manchester City 24 0 25Daniel Agger (vice-captain)CB Brøndby 232 14 817Mamadou SakhoCB Paris Saint-Germain 19 1 020Aly CissokhoLB Valencia 19 0 1 34Martin KellyRB LFC Academy 62 1 237Martin ŠkrtelCB Zenit 245 16 538Jon FlanaganRB/LB LFC Academy 42 1 144Brad SmithLB LFC Academy 1 0 047Andre WisdomRB/CB LFC Academy 22 1 2Midfielders6Luis AlbertoAM/CF Sevilla 12 0 18Steven Gerrard (captain)DM/CM LFC Academy 669 173 14410Philippe CoutinhoAM/LW Inter Milan 50 8 13 12Victor MosesLW/RW Chelsea 22 2 0 14Jordan HendersonCM/RM Sunderland 132 13 15 21LucasDM Grêmio 243 6 1524Joe AllenDM/CM Swansea City 63 3 031Raheem SterlingLW/RW/AM Queens Park Rangers 77 12 833Jordon IbeLW/RW Wycombe Wanderers 3 0 253João Carlos TeixeiraAM/LW Sporting 1 0 0Forwards 7Luis SuárezFW Ajax 133 82 29 9Iago AspasST/LW Celta 15 1 1 15Daniel SturridgeST Chelsea 49 35 10
Transfers and loans
Transfers in Entry datePositionNo.PlayerFrom clubFee22 June 2013 AM 6 Luis Alberto Sevilla£6,800,00023 June 2013 FW 9 Iago Aspas Celta Vigo£7,000,00027 June 2013 GK 22 Simon Mignolet Sunderland£9,000,0002 July 2013 CB 4 Kolo Touré Manchester CityFree2 September 2013 CB 26 Tiago Ilori Sporting CP£7,000,0002 September 2013 CB 17 Mamadou Sakho Paris Saint-Germain£15,000,000
Loans in Start dateEnd datePositionNo.PlayerFrom club20 August 201331 May 2014 LB 20 Aly Cissokho Valencia2 September 201331 May 2014 LW 12 Victor Moses Chelsea
Transfers out Exit datePositionNo.PlayerTo clubFeeRef. 7 February 2013 CB 23 Jamie CarragherRetired 27 May 2013 CB 22 Danny Wilson Heart of MidlothianReleased19 June 2013 ST 9 Andy Carroll West Ham United£15,500,0003 July 2013 CM 33 Jonjo Shelvey Swansea City£5,000,0008 August 2013 DM 20 Jay Spearing Bolton Wanderers£1,500,00013 August 2013 LW 19 Stewart Downing West Ham United£5,000,0002 September 2013 AM 12 Dani Pacheco AlcorcónReleased3 January 2014 ST 50 Adam Morgan Yeovil TownReleased
Loans out Start dateEnd datePositionNo.PlayerTo club10 July 20139 October 2013 ST Michael Ngoo Yeovil Town12 July 201331 May 2014 AM 30 Suso Almería19 July 20131 January 2014 ST Henoc Mukendi Partick Thistle22 July 20131 January 2014 DM 35 Conor Coady Sheffield United26 July 201330 June 2014 AM Krisztián Adorján Groningen29 July 201331 May 2014 GK 25 Pepe Reina Napoli1 August 201331 May 2014 LB 49 Jack Robinson Blackpool27 August 201331 May 2014 MF 11 Oussama Assaidi Stoke City2 September 201331 May 2014 FW 29 Fabio Borini Sunderland10 September 20131 January 2014 FW 53 João Carlos Teixeira Brentford22 October 201331 May 2014 RB/CB 47 Andre Wisdom Derby County9 January 201431 May 2014 RB 43 Ryan McLaughlin Barnsley20 January 201431 May 2014 CB 26 Tiago Ilori Granada23 January 201431 May 2014 CB 16 Sebastián Coates Nacional31 January 201431 May 2014 FW Michael Ngoo Walsall21 February 201431 May 2014 FW 33 Jordon Ibe Birmingham City
Transfer summary
Spending
Summer: £44,800,000
Winter: £0
Total: £44,800,000
Income
Summer: £28,000,000
Winter: £0
Total: £28,000,000
Expenditure
Summer: £16,800,000
Winter: £0
Total: £16,800,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions Overall record
Premier League
This season recorded an all-time high mark of goals scored by Liverpool in all their English top flight seasons. Only in 1895–96 Division 2 did the Reds score more league goals over the course of a season – 106 versus 101 they netted this season.
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches The league fixtures were released on 18 June 2013.
Aggregate scores Opposition Home score Away score Aggregate Double Points Arsenal 5–1 2–0 5–3 3 Aston Villa 2–2 0–1 3–2 4 Cardiff City 3–1 3–6 9–4 6 Chelsea 0–2 2–1 1–4 0 Crystal Palace 3–1 3–3 6–4 4 Everton 4–0 3–3 7–3 4 Fulham 4–0 2–3 7–2 6 Hull City 2–0 3–1 3–3 3 Manchester City 3–2 2–1 4–4 3 Manchester United 1–0 0–3 4–0 6 Newcastle United 2–1 2–2 4–3 4 Norwich City 5–1 2–3 8–3 6 Southampton 0–1 0–3 3–1 3 Stoke City 1–0 3–5 6–3 6 Sunderland 2–1 1–3 5–2 6 Swansea City 4–3 2–2 6–5 4 Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 0–5 9–0 6 West Bromwich Albion 4–1 1–1 5–2 4 West Ham United 4–1 1–2 6–2 6
FA Cup
League Cup
Squad statistics
Appearances
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
No.Pos.Nat.NamePremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsAppsAppsApps1GKBrad Jones03032 DF Glen Johnson2901303 DF José Enrique6 (2)017 (2)4 DF Kolo Touré15 (5)2219 (5)5 DF Daniel Agger16 (4)20 (1)18 (5)6 MF Luis Alberto0 (9)1 (1)12 (10)7 FW Luis Suárez332 (1)136 (1)8 MF Steven Gerrard33 (1)3238 (1)9 FW Iago Aspas5 (9)106 (9)10 MF Philippe Coutinho28 (5)2 (1)0 (1)30 (7)12 MF Victor Moses6 (13)219 (13)14 MF Jordan Henderson352 (1)1 (1)38 (2)15 FW Daniel Sturridge26 (3)2230 (3)17 DF Mamadou Sakho17 (1)0118 (1)20 DF Aly Cissokho12 (3)3116 (3)21 MF Lucas20 (7)0 (1)121 (8)22 GK Simon Mignolet38024024 MF Joe Allen15 (9)1117 (9)31 MF Raheem Sterling24 (9)2 (1)1 (1)27 (11)34 DF Martin Kelly0 (5)20 (1)2 (6)37 DF Martin Škrtel36213938 DF Jon Flanagan231 (1)024 (1)44 DF Brad Smith0 (1)000 (1)53 MF João Carlos Teixeira0 (1)000 (1)Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season:33 MF Jordon Ibe0 (1)011 (1)47 DF Andre Wisdom1 (1)012 (1)
Goalscorers Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal 1 FW 7 Luis Suárez 31 0 0 31 2 FW 15 Daniel Sturridge 21 1 2 24 3 MF 8 Steven Gerrard 13 1 0 14 4 MF 31 Raheem Sterling 9 0 1 10 5 DF 37 Martin Škrtel 7 0 0 7 6 MF 10 Philippe Coutinho 5 0 0 5 MF 14 Jordan Henderson 4 0 1 5 8 DF 5 Daniel Agger 2 0 0 2 MF 12 Victor Moses 1 1 0 2 10 FW 9 Iago Aspas 0 1 0 1 DF 17 Mamadou Sakho 1 0 0 1 MF 24 Joe Allen 1 0 0 1 DF 38 Jon Flanagan 1 0 0 1 Own goals 5 1 0 6Totals 101 5 4 110
Disciplinary record
No. Pos. Name Premier League FA Cup League Cup Total 2DF Glen Johnson 300000304DF Kolo Touré 200010307FW Luis Suárez 500000508MF Steven Gerrard 702000909FW Iago Aspas 3000003010MF Philippe Coutinho 1010002012MF Victor Moses 1000001014MF Jordan Henderson 4100105115FW Daniel Sturridge 1000001020DF Aly Cissokho 2000002021MF Lucas 5000106024MF Joe Allen 4000004031MF Raheem Sterling 3010105037DF Martin Škrtel 5000005038DF Jon Flanagan 2010003047DF Andre Wisdom 10001020Total4915050591
Awards The inaugural Players' Awards dinner was held on 6 May at the Liverpool ACC Conference Centre.
Liverpool Players' Player of the Year Award: Luis Suárez Liverpool Supporters' Player of the Year Award: Luis Suárez Liverpool Supporters' Young Player of the Year Award: Raheem Sterling Goal of the Season Award: Luis Suárez for his 40-yard volley against Norwich City on 4 December. Outstanding Achievement Award: Brendan Rodgers Academy Players' Player of the Year: Jordan Rossiter Lifetime Achievement Award: Ronnie Moran
Standard Chartered Player of the Month
Month Player Source August Daniel Sturridge September Simon Mignolet October Luis Suárez November December January February Daniel Sturridge March Steven Gerrard April Raheem Sterling
Notes
References
External links 2013–14 Liverpool F.C. season at official website 2013–14 Liverpool F.C. season at LFC History