The 2020–21 season was Liverpool Football Club's 129th season in existence and their 59th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, Liverpool participated in this season's editions of the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Champions League. The season covered the period from August 2020 to 30 June 2021. This was the first season since 2013–14 without Dejan Lovren, who departed to Zenit Saint Petersburg and Adam Lallana, who departed to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Season overview The season was notably difficult, as the majority of games were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all three of the club's senior central defenders sustained long-term injuries. The team's early form was creditable and, on 22 November 2020, they broke the club record for longest unbeaten run at home in the league (which had previously stood at 63) with a 3–0 win over Leicester City. However, the run ended on 21 January 2021 following a 1–0 defeat to Burnley; it had stood at 68, the second-longest unbeaten home run in English top-flight history, behind Chelsea's run of 86 games between March 2004 and October 2008, and the longest under a single manager. A tough period followed as Liverpool suffered a run of six consecutive defeats at Anfield. This ended any chance the team had of retaining the Premier League title as by early March, Liverpool sat 8th in the table with 43 points. The team, however, was able to reverse their fortunes, winning eight of their final ten league games, which included goalkeeper Alisson Becker scoring a stoppage-time winner against West Bromwich Albion (the first goal ever scored by a Liverpool goalkeeper in the 129-year history of the club), meaning they finished third with 69 points, qualifying for the next season's UEFA Champions League.
First-team squad
Squad no. Player Nationality Position(s) Date of birth Signed from Apps Goals Assists Goalkeepers 1 Alisson Becker GK Roma 130 1 1 13 Adrián GK West Ham United 24 0 0 62 Caoimhín Kelleher GK LFC Academy 9 0 0 97 Marcelo Pitaluga GK Fluminense 0 0 0Defenders 4 Virgil van Dijk (3rd captain) CB Southampton 130 13 6 12 Joe Gomez CB/RB/LB Charlton Athletic 121 0 4 19 Ozan Kabak CB Schalke 04 13 0 0 21 Kostas Tsimikas LB Olympiacos 7 0 0 26 Andy Robertson LB Hull City 177 5 37 28 Ben Davies CB/LB Preston North End 0 0 0 32 Joël Matip CB Schalke 04 123 6 3 46 Rhys Williams CB LFC Academy 19 0 0 47 Nat Phillips CB LFC Academy 21 1 1 66 Trent Alexander-Arnold RB LFC Academy 179 10 43 76 Neco Williams RB LFC Academy 25 0 2Midfielders 3 Fabinho DM/RB/CB Monaco 122 3 6 5 Georginio Wijnaldum (4th captain) CM/DM/AM Newcastle United 237 22 15 6 Thiago CM/DM Bayern Munich 30 1 0 7 James Milner (vice-captain) CM/DM/LB/RB Manchester City 250 26 40 8 Naby Keïta CM/AM RB Leipzig 76 7 4 14 Jordan Henderson (captain) CM/DM/CB Sunderland 392 30 49 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain CM/AM/RW/LW Arsenal 104 14 11 17 Curtis Jones CM/AM LFC Academy 47 7 6 23 Xherdan Shaqiri RW/LW/AM/CM Stoke City 63 8 9 58 Ben Woodburn AM/CM/LW/RW LFC Academy 11 1 0Forwards 9 Roberto Firmino ST/AM 1899 Hoffenheim 292 87 63 10 Sadio Mané LW/RW/ST Southampton 218 97 37 11 Mohamed Salah RW/LW/ST Roma 203 125 43 20 Diogo Jota LW/RW/ST Wolverhampton Wanderers 30 13 1 27 Divock Origi ST/LW Lille 157 35 11
New contracts DatePositionNo. PlayerRef. 17 August 2020DF76 Neco Williams
Transfers Transfers in
Entry datePositionNo.PlayerFrom clubFeeRef. 10 August 2020 DF 21 Kostas Tsimikas Olympiacos£11,750,000 18 September 2020 MF 6 Thiago Bayern Munich£20,000,000 19 September 2020 FW 20 Diogo Jota Wolverhampton Wanderers£41,000,000 8 October 2020 GK 97 Marcelo Pitaluga Fluminense£1,000,000 1 February 2021 DF 28 Ben Davies Preston North End£500,000 Total £74,250,000
Loan in Start dateEnd datePositionNo.PlayerFrom clubFeeRef 1 February 2021 End of season DF 19 Ozan Kabak Schalke 04£1,000,000 Total £1,000,000
Transfers out Exit datePositionNo.PlayerTo clubFeeRef. 27 July 2020 GK 22 Andy Lonergan Stoke CityReleased 27 July 2020 MF 20 Adam Lallana Brighton & Hove AlbionReleased 27 July 2020 DF 6 Dejan Lovren Zenit Saint Petersburg£10,900,000 28 August 2020 MF 53 Ovie Ejaria Reading£3,000,000 19 September 2020 DF 51 Ki-Jana Hoever Wolverhampton Wanderers£9,000,000 2 October 2020 FW 24 Rhian Brewster Sheffield United£18,000,00016 October 2020 FW 55 Herbie Kane Barnsley£1,250,000 Total£42,150,000
Loans out Start dateEnd datePositionNo.PlayerTo clubFeeRef 12 August 2020 2 January 2021 DF — Morgan Boyes Fleetwood Town None 18 August 2020 14 January 2021 DF — Adam Lewis Amiens SC None 7 September 2020 End of season MF 54 Sheyi Ojo Cardiff City None 14 September 2020 31 December 2020 DF — Tony Gallacher Toronto FC None 19 September 2020 End of season FW — Taiwo Awoniyi Union Berlin None 28 September 2020 End of season GK 22 Loris Karius Union Berlin None 28 September 2020 End of season GK 73 Kamil Grabara AGF None 6 October 2020 End of season DF — Anderson Arroyo Salamanca None 6 October 2020 End of season MF 16 Marko Grujić Porto£1,000,000 16 October 2020 18 January 2021 MF 58 Ben Woodburn Blackpool None 16 October 2020 End of season MF 59 Harry Wilson Cardiff City£1,200,000 16 October 2020 End of season MF 67 Harvey Elliott Blackburn Rovers None 5 January 2021 End of season FW — Liam Millar Charlton Athletic None 14 January 2021 End of season DF — Adam Lewis Plymouth Argyle None 1 February 2021 End of season DF 72 Sepp van den Berg Preston North End None 1 February 2021 End of season FW 18 Takumi Minamino Southampton£500,000 3 February 2021 30 November 2021 GK — Vítězslav Jaroš St Patrick's Athletic None Total £2,700,000
Transfer summary
Spending
Summer: £ 73,750,000
Winter: £ 1,500,000
Total: £ 75,250,000
Income
Summer: £ 44,350,000
Winter: £ 500,000
Total: £ 44,850,000
Net Expenditure
Summer: £ 29,400,000
Winter: £ 1,000,000
Total: £ 30,400,000
Pre-season friendlies On 19 August 2020, Liverpool announced that they would play two friendlies as part of their pre-season training camp in Austria. On 2 September 2020, they announced that they would complete their pre-season campaign with a home game against Blackpool.
Competitions Overview
Premier League
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches The league fixtures were announced on 20 August 2020.
FA Cup
Liverpool entered the competition in the third round. The draw was confirmed on 30 November 2020 live on BT Sport. The draw for the fourth and fifth round were made on 11 January 2021, conducted by former Liverpool player Peter Crouch.
EFL Cup
Liverpool entered the competition in the third round. The draw was confirmed on 6 September 2020 live on Sky Sports. The fourth round draw was conducted on 17 September 2020, also live on Sky Sports.
FA Community Shield
UEFA Champions League
Liverpool entered the competition in the group stage.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 1 October 2020.
Knockout phase
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 December 2020.
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021.
Squad statistics
Appearances Players with no appearances are not included on the list.
No.Pos.Nat.PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupEFL CupChampions LeagueCommunity ShieldTotalAppsStartsAppsStartsAppsStartsAppsStartsAppsStartsAppsStarts1GK33331100771142423MF30282210871142384DF5500220011885MF38342210981151456MF24202100420030237MF26112211641136198MF107001042101699FW363321009311483810FW3531210010811484111FW3734221110911514712DF7600103311121013GK33002211006614MF212011006400282515MF1321000300017217MF241322225510342219DF9900004400131320FW191200219600301921DF20001142007323MF1452011510022726DF3838110010811504827FW922021430017632DF10900002200121146DF9722226300191447DF171500003300201862GK22110022005565MF00000011001166DF363411008800454376DF631122421114989DF000000100010Players who went out on loan or left permanently but made appearances for Liverpool prior to departing16MF00002200002218FW921122421017724FW00000000101059MF00001100001167MF000011000011Total382210153
Goals
PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupEFL CupChampions LeagueCommunity ShieldTotal 1 FW 11 Mohamed Salah 22306031 2 FW 10 Sadio Mané 11203016 3 FW 20 Diogo Jota 9004013 4 FW 9 Roberto Firmino 900009 5 MF 17 Curtis Jones 102104 FW 18 Takumi Minamino 102014 7 MF 5 Georginio Wijnaldum 210003 8 DF 66 Trent Alexander-Arnold 200002 9 GK 1 Alisson Becker 100001 DF 4 Virgil van Dijk 100001 MF 6 Thiago 100001 MF 14 Jordan Henderson 100001 MF 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 100001 MF 16 Marko Grujić 001001 MF 23 Xherdan Shaqiri 001001 DF 26 Andy Robertson 100001 FW 27 Divock Origi 001001 DF 32 Joël Matip 100001 DF 47 Nat Phillips 100001 Own goals 300104 Total686715197
Clean sheets
No.PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupEFL CupChampions LeagueCommunity ShieldTotal 1 Alisson Becker 10 0 0 5 0 15 13 Adrián 1 0 1 1 0 3 62 Caoimhín Kelleher 1 0 0 1 0 2Total 12 0 1 7 0 20
Disciplinary record
No. Pos. Name Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Champions League Community Shield Total 1GK Alisson Becker1000000000103MF Fabinho6010000000704DF Virgil van Dijk1000000000105MF Georginio Wijnaldum1000002000306MF Thiago4000001000507MF James Milner3000002010608MF Naby Keïta1000000000109FW Roberto Firmino20000000002010FW Sadio Mané30100020006014MF Jordan Henderson00000020002017MF Curtis Jones20100010004018FW Takumi Minamino00001000001019DF Ozan Kabak30000010004020FW Diogo Jota20000000002021DF Kostas Tsimikas00000010001023MF Xherdan Shaqiri20000000002026DF Andy Robertson20000010003032DF Joël Matip20000000002047DF Nat Phillips20000010003059MF Harry Wilson00001000001062GK Caoimhín Kelleher00000010001066DF Trent Alexander-Arnold20000020004076DF Neco Williams100000000010Total400302017010630
Club awards End-of-season awards Standard Chartered Men's Player of the Season: Mohamed Salah Goal of the Season: Alisson Becker (vs West Brom, 16 May 2021)
Liverpool Standard Chartered Player of the Month award
Awarded monthly to the player that was chosen by fans voting on Liverpoolfc.com MonthPlayerSeptember Sadio ManéOctober Diogo JotaNovemberDecember Mohamed SalahJanuaryFebruaryMarch Nat PhillipsApril Trent Alexander-Arnold
References
External links