The 2018–19 season was Liverpool Football Club's 127th season in existence, their 57th consecutive season in the top flight of English football and 27th consecutive season in the Premier League. Liverpool also competed in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Champions League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.
Liverpool finished the league season as runners-up to Manchester City, to whom they suffered their only league defeat, scoring 97 points, the then third-highest total in the history of the English top division and the most points scored by a team without winning the title. They remained unbeaten at home in the league for a consecutive season and matched the club record of 30 league wins in a season. In the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool reached the final for the second consecutive year after producing an improbable 4–0 comeback win over Barcelona to overturn their 3–0 first leg advantage. In the final, Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 to secure the club's sixth win in the competition. However, success eluded Liverpool in domestic cup competitions as they exited both the FA Cup and EFL Cup in the third round. This was the first full season since 2011–12 without Philippe Coutinho, who departed to Barcelona during the 2017-18 season, and this was the first season since 2013–14 without Emre Can, who departed to Juventus.
Kits
Season review Pre-season Liverpool's 2018–19 pre-season kicked off with its second signing (the first being Naby Keïta, a deal finalised the previous season) of the campaign with the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Fabinho from French club AS Monaco, a deal which became official on 1 July.
Liverpool seemed set for their third signing when the media confirmed that Liverpool had reached a deal with French club Lyon for their captain, Nabil Fekir. However, the club, while confirming negotiations were ongoing, announced that Fekir would be remaining at Lyon.
The first match of the pre-season took place on 7 July when the Reds visited Chester. Two goals from Harry Wilson in the first half followed by five goals in the second half, from James Milner from the spot, Daniel Sturridge, Ryan Kent, Danny Ings, then another goal from Sturridge to give Liverpool a 0–7 victory.
The club moved along to 10 July and a visit to Merseyside counterparts Tranmere Rovers. Rafael Camacho, Sheyi Ojo and Adam Lallana all scored in the first half to give the Reds a 0–3 lead. Tranmere fired back with goals from Jonny Smith scoring a rebound after a hard free kick Loris Karius could not hold on to, then Amadou Soukouna tacked on a late second, but Liverpool held on and won 2–3.
On 13 July, Liverpool formally announced their third signing of the summer — Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City, signing him for £13 million, his reported release clause.
The following day, on 14 July, Bury was able to deny Liverpool a victory with a 0–0 draw at Gigg Lane. Sturridge, Ojo and Dominic Solanke all had attempts cleared from the goal line.
On 19 July, Liverpool confirmed their fourth signing of the summer in Alisson Becker for a £56 million transfer fee, making him the most expensive goalkeeper in history at the time of purchase. That same day, Liverpool defeated Blackburn Rovers 0–2 with two second-half goals from Sturridge and Lazar Marković.
Liverpool then participated in the International Champions Cup in the United States, first heading to Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium on 22 July to play Borussia Dortmund. Virgil van Dijk opened scoring in the first half to give the Reds a 1–0 lead at halftime, but Dortmund stormed back with two goals from American Christian Pulisic and a late penalty kick from Jacob Bruun Larsen to give Dortmund the 1–3 victory.
Up next, on 26 July, was a trip to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where Liverpool took on Manchester City. Leroy Sané opened the scoring in the 57th minute, but it was substitutes Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, coming back from their time off following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to give Liverpool the 1–2 victory over the Premier League rivals.
Finally was the trip to Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and a crowd of over 100,000 people on 29 July against rivals Manchester United. Liverpool first saw a penalty converted by Mané, only for an immediate response from an Andreas Pereira free kick. In the second half, goals from Sturridge, Ojo (from the penalty spot) and newest signing Xherdan Shaqiri's bicycle kick on his debut gave Liverpool the 1–4 win.
On 4 August, Liverpool travelled to Ireland to defeat Napoli 5–0 with goals in the first half from Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum, then in the second half from Salah, Sturridge and Alberto Moreno.
Liverpool's final pre-season fixture was on 7 August in a rare preseason match at Anfield as hosts to Torino. Liverpool opened the scoring with goals from Roberto Firmino and Wijnaldum each scoring. Andrea Belotti answered with a header before the half, but Sturridge responded with another goal to a strong pre-season to give Liverpool the 3–1 victory in their final pre-season match.
August Liverpool's opening Premier League fixture was at Anfield against West Ham United on 12 August. The Reds took a 2–0 half-time lead with goals from Salah and Mané, before the latter scored a seemingly offside goal to make it 3–0. In the final few minutes, Sturridge scored Liverpool's fourth and final goal with his first touch of the game, only 24 seconds after replacing Salah. The 4–0 win put Liverpool in first position of the league table for the first time since November 2016. The scoreline also meant that Liverpool became just the second club in Premier League history to score four or more goals in four consecutive games against a single opponent.
Liverpool's first away game of the league season was at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace on 20 August. Initially, the game was an even contest before Liverpool were awarded a late first half penalty following a foul by former Liverpool player Mamadou Sakho on Salah. James Milner converted the penalty to give Liverpool the 0–1 lead at the half. The second half was equally even for the most part. However, at the very end, Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka received a red card to give Liverpool a one-man advantage. Mané then scored a late second in stoppage time to eventually give Liverpool a 0–2 win.
Liverpool's final fixture of the month saw the team return to Anfield to take on Brighton & Hove Albion on 25 August. The visitors' resistance was broken in the 23rd minute when Salah put the Reds ahead 1–0 and the game went on to finish with no further changes to the scoreline. The win saw Liverpool take the maximum nine points from the first three league fixtures for the first time since the 2013–14 season.
September Liverpool's next fixture was on 1 September against Leicester City. Liverpool took an early lead through a goal from Mané, which was then followed by Firmino's first goal of the season. His late first-half header to give the Reds a comfortable 2–0 lead at half-time. This was followed by a howler from goalkeeper Alisson, attempting to dribble the ball only to lose it to Kelechi Iheanacho, with Rachid Ghezzal then scoring into the empty net. Liverpool managed to survive the opposition's continued pressing and record a 2–1 win to maintain their 100% record start to the season. Liverpool's next fixture, which came after the international break, was on 15 September, away at Tottenham Hotspur, a team they had not beaten away from home since the 2014–15 season. The Reds took the lead in the 39th minute, with Wijnaldum scoring his first Premier League away goal for Liverpool. Firmino scored his second goal of the season to put the Reds 2–0 up. A late goal from Erik Lamela added drama to the match, but Liverpool held on to secure their fifth league win of the season and maintain their 100% record to the start of the season, with the result also meaning that this was the club's best start to a season since 1990. Also, the match was marked by Firmino's eye injury, sustained in a clash with Jan Vertonghen.
Liverpool's first UEFA Champions League match of the season was against Paris Saint Germain, the French champions, on 18 September. The Reds took the lead through a header from Sturridge, followed by a penalty from Milner, before Thomas Meunier scored to slightly decrease the margin to 2–1 at half-time. Teenager Kylian Mbappé scored in the last few minutes to make it 2–2 as he took advantage off a mistake from Salah. Firmino, who came on as a substitute just minutes before the equalizing goal, scored in the last few seconds of the game to win it 3–2 and open Liverpool's continental campaign with a win.
Liverpool's next game was against on 22 September, against Southampton. Liverpool took the lead through an own goal from Wesley Hoedt in the early minutes of the game, followed by a goal from Joël Matip just ten minutes after, with the Reds' third goal falling in the last minute of the first-half, with Shaqiri hitting the bar from a free-kick and Salah slotting in the goal, to win the game 3–0 for the Reds, as Liverpool won a seventh straight game in all competitions from the start of a season for the first time in 28 years.
Liverpool's next fixture was up against Chelsea on 26 September, in the Carabao Cup third round. The Reds initially took the lead through a goal from Sturridge, only for Emerson Palmieri to score the equaliser in the last ten minutes of the match, which was followed by Eden Hazard scoring a stunning goal in the final minutes of the match to give Chelsea the win and end Liverpool's unbeaten start to the season.
Three days later, on 29 September, the Reds once again played against Chelsea in the Premier League. A goal from Eden Hazard once again gave Chelsea the lead at half-time before Sturridge scored a magnificent late goal to share the points for both sides.
October The Reds' next match was against Napoli in the Champions League at the Stadio San Paolo on 3 October. Liverpool struggled throughout the game, particularly in attack, where they failed to register a single shot on target for the first time since 2006. A goal from Lorenzo Insigne in the 90th minute finally would break the deadlock after Liverpool's defense stopped several chances. Following the defeat, manager Jürgen Klopp stated that the Reds "only had themselves to blame" for the loss.
Their final game before the international was against league champions Manchester City on 7 October, with plenty of hype ahead of the game. However, the match would eventually finish goalless as both teams' defences earned praise. The highlight of the match was Riyad Mahrez missing a penalty in the last few minutes of the game after Virgil van Dijk fouled Leroy Sané, with Mahrez skying the ball over the crossbar to mark a 0–0 draw. During the international break, the Reds would suffer several injury problems to key players, including Salah, Mané, Van Dijk and Keïta, though only the latter would be out for an extended period.
The Reds' first match following the international break was against Huddersfield Town on 20 October, and a third meeting between close friends Klopp and David Wagner. The Reds went ahead following Salah's strike in first half, as the game also marked the introduction of Fabinho, who made his Premier League debut after coming as a substitute in the 69th minute. Huddersfield has several attempts but were unable to score as Liverpool were able to hold on and win 1–0.