2022–23 Liverpool F.C. season

On 30 July 2022, Liverpool opened the 2022–23 season by achieving victory in the 2022 FA Community Shield with a 3–1 win over Manchester City.^[3] On 27 August 2022, Liverpool achieved a 9–0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League in which Roberto Firmino scored his 100th goal for Liverpool.^[4] The match was the joint-largest win in the history of the Premier League,^[5] and equalled Liverpool's biggest ever win in the top flight, achieving the same scoreline at Anfield in the 1989–90 season against Crystal Palace. The match was also Bournemouth's worst ever top-flight defeat. On 12 October 2022, Liverpool achieved a 1-7 away victory over Rangers in the UEFA Champions League. In the game, Mohamed Salah broke Bafétimbi Gomis's record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick of all time.^[6][7]

On 28 December 2022, Cody Gakpo agreed to sign for Liverpool for a transfer fee of between £35.4 to £44.3 million (€40 to €50 million) once the transfer window opened on 1 January 2023.^[8][9] On 5 March 2023, Liverpool recorded their biggest ever competitive win against Manchester United with an historic 7–0 victory at Anfield. Cody Gakpo, Darwin Núñez, and Mohamed Salah all scored braces with Roberto Firmino netting the final goal. This surpassed Liverpool’s previous record set in October 1895, a 7–1 victory in the Second Division. Furthermore, this was Manchester United's joint-biggest ever defeat and the heaviest since Wolverhampton Wanderers beat them by the same scoreline in 1931.^[10][11] On 10 March 2023, Liverpool announced Firmino would leave Liverpool at the end of the season after he decided not to extend his contract. Klopp stated that he was a "little bit surprised" by the decision but wished Firmino good luck, saying that he would “be grateful forever” for his contribution to Liverpool.^[12][13] On 20 May 2023, Roberto Firmino scored his last Liverpool goal at Anfield in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.^[14][15] Firmino also scored in his last ever game for Liverpool on 28 May 2023, being assisted by fellow Brazilian Fabinho.^[16]

Liverpool narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification, with winger Mohamed Salah describing himself as "totally devastated".^[17] It was suggested that reasons for their failure to qualify for the Champions League included the declining form of key members of the team Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho^{[18][19][20][21][22]} and the vast amount of injuries suffered by Liverpool players.^[23][24][25] On 21 May 2023, addressing the reality of being in the Europa League next season, Klopp stated that Liverpool would "make [the Europa League] our competition".^[26]

After the season ended, many prominent players departed the club. Captain Jordan Henderson left to join Al-Ettifaq for a reported transfer fee of £12 million^[27] and Fabinho left to join Al-Ittihad for £40 million.^[28][29][30] With the expiry of their contracts, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departed the club.^[31][32] Following Jordan Henderson's departure, Virgil van Dijk was named as Liverpool's new captain on 31 July 2023.^[33][34] Trent Alexander-Arnold succeeded James Milner as vice-captain.^[33][34] With a midfield rebuild necessitated, Liverpool duly signed Alexis Mac Allister for £35 million^[35][36][37] and Dominik Szoboszlai for £60 million.^[38][39] Moreover, with attempts to sign first and second-choice defensive midfielders Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia having failed,^{[40][41][42][43][44]} Liverpool signed Wataru Endō from Stuttgart for £16 million.^[45] Upon Endō’s transfer to Liverpool, Klopp stated on 18 August 2023 that he was “really happy” and also commented that the Japanese captain was also a “machine on the pitch”.^[46]

As of 28 May 2023^[47]

No.	Player	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Apps	Goals	Assists
GK
1	Alisson (6th captain)		(1992-10-02)2 October 1992 (aged 30)	Roma	231	1	3
13	Adrián		(1987-01-03)3 January 1987 (aged 36)	West Ham United	26	0	0
62	Caoimhín Kelleher		(1998-11-23)23 November 1998 (aged 24)	LFC Academy	21	0	0
DF
2	Joe Gomez		(1997-05-23)23 May 1997 (aged 26)	Charlton Athletic	173	0	6
4	Virgil van Dijk (3rd captain)		(1991-07-08)8 July 1991 (aged 31)	Southampton	222	19	7
5	Ibrahima Konaté		(1999-05-25)25 May 1999 (aged 24)	RB Leipzig	53	3	1
21	Kostas Tsimikas		(1996-05-12)12 May 1996 (aged 27)	Olympiacos	61	0	12
22	Calvin Ramsay		(2003-07-31)31 July 2003 (aged 19)	Aberdeen	2	0	0
26	Andrew Robertson (5th captain)		(1994-03-11)11 March 1994 (aged 29)	Hull City	267	8	63
32	Joël Matip		(1991-08-08)8 August 1991 (aged 31)	Schalke 04	187	11	6
46	Rhys Williams		(2001-02-03)3 February 2001 (aged 22)	LFC Academy	19	0	0
47	Nat Phillips		(1997-03-21)21 March 1997 (aged 26)	LFC Academy	29	1	1
66	Trent Alexander-Arnold (4th captain)		(1998-10-07)7 October 1998 (aged 24)	LFC Academy	273	16	71
MF
3	Fabinho		(1993-10-23)23 October 1993 (aged 29)	Monaco	219	11	9
6	Thiago		(1991-04-11)11 April 1991 (aged 32)	Bayern Munich	97	3	6
7	James Milner (vice-captain)		(1986-01-04)4 January 1986 (aged 37)	Manchester City	332	26	45
8	Naby Keïta		(1995-02-10)10 February 1995 (aged 28)	RB Leipzig	129	11	6
14	Jordan Henderson (captain)		(1990-06-17)17 June 1990 (aged 33)	Sunderland	492	33	58
15	Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain		(1993-08-15)15 August 1993 (aged 29)	Arsenal	146	18	13
17	Curtis Jones		(2001-01-30)30 January 2001 (aged 22)	LFC Academy	97	11	10
19	Harvey Elliott		(2003-04-04)4 April 2003 (aged 20)	Fulham	66	6	3
29	Arthur		(1996-08-12)12 August 1996 (aged 26)	Juventus	1	0	0
43	Stefan Bajcetic		(2004-10-22)22 October 2004 (aged 18)	Celta Vigo	19	1	0
FW
9	Roberto Firmino		(1991-10-02)2 October 1991 (aged 31)	1899 Hoffenheim	362	111	72
11	Mohamed Salah		(1992-06-15)15 June 1992 (aged 31)	Roma	305	186	74
18	Cody Gakpo		(1999-05-07)7 May 1999 (aged 24)	PSV Eindhoven	26	7	2
20	Diogo Jota		(1996-12-04)4 December 1996 (aged 26)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	113	41	15
23	Luis Díaz		(1997-01-13)13 January 1997 (aged 26)	Porto	47	11	6
27	Darwin Núñez		(1999-06-24)24 June 1999 (aged 24)	Benfica	42	15	4
28	Fábio Carvalho		(2002-08-30)30 August 2002 (aged 20)	Fulham	21	3	0

Date	Position	No.	Player	Ref.
6 June 2022	MF	7	James Milner	[48]
1 July 2022	FW	11	Mohamed Salah	[49]
7 July 2022	DF	2	Joe Gomez	[50]
2 August 2022	FW	20	Diogo Jota	[51]
11 August 2022	FW	19	Harvey Elliott	[52]
30 August 2022	DF	72	Sepp van den Berg	[53]
17 November 2022	MF	17	Curtis Jones	[54]
11 January 2023	MF	80	Tyler Morton	[55]
26 January 2023	MF	43	Stefan Bajcetic	[56]

Liverpool announced they would be touring South East Asia, starting with a match against rivals Manchester United in Bangkok on 12 July,^[102] followed by a trip to Singapore to face Crystal Palace on 15 July.^[103] On 16 June, the Reds announced a further two pre-season matches, against RB Leipzig and Strasbourg,^[104] and later announced another friendly against Red Bull Salzburg in Austria on 27 July.^[105]

During the mid-season break as a result of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Liverpool announced they would be travelling to Dubai to take part in the Dubai Super Cup friendly tournament, facing Lyon and Milan on 11 and 16 December, respectively.^[106]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

Manchester United v Liverpool

12 July 2022 Bangkok Century Cup	Manchester United	4–0	Liverpool	Bangkok, Thailand
20:00 ICT	Sancho 12' Fred 30' Martial 33' Pellistri 76'	Report		Stadium: Rajamangala Stadium Attendance: 50,248 Referee: Andre Marriner

Liverpool v Crystal Palace

15 July 2022 Friendly	Liverpool	2–0	Crystal Palace	Kallang, Singapore
20:35 SGT	Henderson 12' Salah 46'	Report		Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 50,217 Referee: Muhammad Taqi

RB Leipzig v Liverpool

21 July 2022 Friendly	RB Leipzig	0–5	Liverpool	Leipzig, Germany
19:15 CEST		Report	Salah 8' Núñez 48' (pen.), 51', 68', 89'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 47,069 Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

Red Bull Salzburg v Liverpool

27 July 2022 Friendly	Red Bull Salzburg	1–0	Liverpool	Salzburg, Austria
20:00 CEST	Van Der Brempt  3' Šeško 31' Šimić  65'	Report	Fabinho  89'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 29,520 Referee: Stefan Ebner (Austria)

Liverpool v Strasbourg

31 July 2022 Friendly	Liverpool	0–3	Strasbourg	Liverpool
19:30 BST		Report	Thomasson 4', 21' Diallo 14'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 44,000 Referee: Darren England (England)

Liverpool v Lyon

11 December 2022 Dubai Super Cup	Liverpool	1–3 (3–5 p)	Lyon	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
18:00 GST	Carvalho 1' Salah 14' Bajcetic  23'	Report	Lacazette 41', 82' Barcola 65'	Stadium: Al Maktoum Stadium Attendance: 14,851 Referee: Ahmed Essa Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)
	Penalties
	Tsimikas Ramsay Oxlade-Chamberlain Keïta		Caqueret Barcola Cherki Tetê Da Silva
Note: Lyon gained 4 points from this fixture: 3 for the victory in 90 minutes, and 1 for the penalty shoot-out victory.

Liverpool v Milan

16 December 2022 Dubai Super Cup	Liverpool	4–1 (3–4 p)	Milan	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:30 GST	Salah 5' Thiago 41' Núñez 82', 88'	Report	Saelemaekers 29'	Stadium: Al Maktoum Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Omar Mohamed Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)
	Penalties
	Tsimikas Keïta Carvalho Clark Núñez		Bennacer Bakayoko Adli El Hilali Kalulu
Note: Liverpool gained 3 points from this fixture for the victory in 90 minutes, and Milan gained 1 point for the penalty shoot-out victory.

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

The league fixtures were announced on 16 June 2022, with the season starting on 6 August.^[109]

Liverpool v Manchester City

16 October 2022 11	Liverpool	1–0	Manchester City	Liverpool
16:30 BST	Fabinho  63' Salah 76' Thiago  84' Jota  90'	Report	Akanji  78'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 53,286 Referee: Anthony Taylor
Note: Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was sent off in the 86th minute.

The club entered the competition in the third round and were drawn at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[113] They were drawn away to Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round.^[114]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

Liverpool were drawn at home to Derby County in the third round, and then away to Manchester City in the fourth round.^[115]

  Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

The traditional season curtain raiser was played between the previous season's league champions and FA Cup winners. As winners of the 2021–22 FA Cup, Liverpool faced 2021–22 Premier League champions Manchester City. Normally played at Wembley Stadium, this season it was played at Leicester City's King Power Stadium to avoid clashes with the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 competition.

Liverpool entered the competition in the group stage.

The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2022, with the fixtures announced two days later.^[116]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAP	LIV	AJX	RAN
1	Napoli	6	5	0	1	20	6	+14	15[a]	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	4–2	3–0
2	Liverpool	6	5	0	1	17	6	+11	15[a]			2–0	—	2–1	2–0
3	Ajax	6	2	0	4	11	16	−5	6	Transfer to Europa League		1–6	0–3	—	4–0
4	Rangers	6	0	0	6	2	22	−20	0			0–3	1–7	1–3	—

Napoli v Liverpool

7 September 2022 1	Napoli	4–1	Liverpool	Naples, Italy
21:00 CEST	Zieliński 5' (pen.), 47' Osimhen 19' Zambo Anguissa 31' Simeone 44' Rrahmani  66'	Report	Milner  10' Van Dijk  18' Díaz 49'	Stadium: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Attendance: 51,793 Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Liverpool v Ajax

13 September 2022 2	Liverpool	2–1	Ajax	Liverpool
20:00 BST	Salah 17' Matip  62', 89'	Report	Kudus 27' Álvarez  59' Berghuis  90+1'	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 52,387 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)