# 2003–04 Liverpool F.C. season

The 2003–04 season was Liverpool's 112th season in existence and their 42nd consecutive year in the top-flight. The season covers the period from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. Liverpool finished the FA Premier League season in fourth place.

## Season summary

Liverpool finished the season in fourth position in the Premier League in what was to be Gérard Houllier's last in charge of Liverpool. He was replaced by Rafael Benítez at the end of the season after six years in charge.
| Competition | Result | Top Scorer |
| Premier League | 4th | Michael Owen, 16 |
| UEFA Cup | Fourth round | Harry Kewell, 3 |
| FA Cup | Fifth round | Bruno Cheyrou, 2 |
| League Cup | Fourth round | Emile Heskey, 2 Danny Murphy, 2 |
| Overall | | Michael Owen, 19 |

## Players
### First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | POL | Jerzy Dudek |
| 2 | DF | SUI | Stéphane Henchoz |
| 3 | DF | IRL | Steve Finnan |
| 4 | DF | FIN | Sami Hyypiä |
| 5 | FW | CZE | Milan Baroš |
| 6 | DF | GER | Markus Babbel |
| 7 | MF | AUS | Harry Kewell |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Emile Heskey |
| 9 | FW | SEN | El Hadji Diouf |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Michael Owen |
| 11 | MF | CZE | Vladimír Šmicer |
| 13 | MF | ENG | Danny Murphy |
| 15 | MF | SEN | Salif Diao |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | GER | Dietmar Hamann |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Steven Gerrard |
| 18 | DF | NOR | John Arne Riise |
| 20 | MF | FRA | Anthony Le Tallec |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Djimi Traoré |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland |
| 23 | DF | ENG | Jamie Carragher |
| 24 | FW | FRA | Florent Sinama Pongolle |
| 25 | MF | CRO | Igor Bišćan |
| 28 | DF | FRA | Bruno Cheyrou |
| 29 | GK | FRA | Patrice Luzi |
| 32 | MF | ENG | John Welsh |
| 36 | DF | ENG | Jon Otsemobor |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 7 | FW | FIN | Daniel Sjölund (to Djurgårdens IF) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 12 | GK | WAL | Paul Jones (on loan from Southampton) |

### Reserve squad

    The following players did not appear for the first team this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | MF | IRL | Richie Partridge |
| 27 | DF | FRA | Grégory Vignal |
| 30 | DF | FRA | Carl Medjani |
| 31 | MF | FRA | Alou Diarra |
| 33 | FW | ENG | Neil Mellor |
| 34 | MF | IRL | Darren Potter |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Stephen Warnock |
| 37 | DF | USA | Zak Whitbread |
| 38 | MF | IRL | Michael Foley-Sheridan |
| 40 | GK | ENG | Paul Harrison |
| — | DF | ENG | Danny O'Donnell |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Lee Peltier |
| — | DF | ENG | James Smith |
| — | DF | ENG | Calum Woods |
| — | MF | SCO | Robbie Foy |
| — | MF | ENG | Danny Guthrie |
| — | MF | ENG | David Mannix |
| — | MF | ENG | Jason Massie |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Smyth |
| — | FW | ENG | Steven Gillespie |
| — | FW | ENG | Conal Platt |

## Transfers
### In

| # | Pos | Player | From | Fee | Date |
| 20 | MF | Anthony Le Tallec | Le Havre | £1,500,000 | 1 July 2003 |
| 24 | FW | Florent Sinama Pongolle | Le Havre | £1,500,000 | 1 July 2003 |
| 3 | DF | Steve Finnan | Fulham | £3,500,000 | 1 July 2003 |
| 7 | MF | Harry Kewell | Leeds United | £5,000,000 | 9 July 2003 |
| 30 | DF | Carl Medjani | Saint-Étienne | Free | 8 August 2003 |
| 12 | GK | Paul Jones | Southampton | Loan | 9 January 2004 |

### Out

| # | Pos | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| 15 | MF | Patrik Berger | Portsmouth | Free | 1 July 2003 |
| 24 | MF | Bernard Diomède | Ajaccio | Free | 1 July 2003 |
| 14 | DF | Vegard Heggem | Unattached | Free | 1 July 2003 |
| 19 | GK | Pegguy Arphexad | Coventry City | Free | 1 July 2003 |
| 34 | FW | Daniel Sjölund | Djurgårdens IF | Free | 15 January 2004 |
| 3 | DF | Abel Xavier | Hannover 96 | Free | 2 February 2004 |
| 8 | FW | Emile Heskey | Birmingham City | £6,250,000 | 18 May 2004 |
* In: £6,500,000
* Out: £6,250,000
* Total spending: £250,000

## Competitions
### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Chelsea | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 67 | 30 | +37 | 79 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Manchester United | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 75 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Liverpool | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 60 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 38 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 52 | 40 | +12 | 56 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 56 | |
* ↑ Since Manchester United qualified for the Champions League, their place in the UEFA Cup as 2003–04 FA Cup winners went to First Division club Millwall, who were the FA Cup runners-up.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Big Four games

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | D | D | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | W | W | L | D | D | D | W | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | D | W | W | W | D |
| Position | 16 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 26 June 2003.

### UEFA Cup
#### Matches
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | POL | Jerzy Dudek | 38 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | FRA | Patrice Luzi | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | SUI | Stéphane Henchoz | 27 | 0 | 15+3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | IRL | Steve Finnan | 31 | 0 | 19+3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | FIN | Sami Hyypiä | 51 | 5 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 18 | DF | NOR | John Arne Riise | 35 | 0 | 22+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Djimi Traoré | 11 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | ENG | Jamie Carragher | 29 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | CRO | Igor Bišćan | 39 | 0 | 27+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | ENG | Jon Otsemobor | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | AUS | Harry Kewell | 49 | 11 | 36 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | SEN | El Hadji Diouf | 33 | 0 | 20+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | CZE | Vladimír Šmicer | 25 | 4 | 15+5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | ENG | Danny Murphy | 42 | 6 | 19+12 | 3 | 1+1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | SEN | Salif Diao | 7 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | GER | Dietmar Hamann | 35 | 3 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Steven Gerrard | 47 | 6 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 7+1 | 2 |
| 28 | MF | FRA | Bruno Cheyrou | 19 | 4 | 9+3 | 2 | 3+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 32 | MF | ENG | John Welsh | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 5 | FW | CZE | Milan Baroš | 18 | 2 | 6+7 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Emile Heskey | 47 | 12 | 25+10 | 7 | 3+1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4+2 | 2 |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Michael Owen | 38 | 19 | 29 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 20 | FW | FRA | Anthony Le Tallec | 23 | 1 | 3+10 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 24 | FW | FRA | Florent Sinama Pongolle | 23 | 2 | 3+12 | 2 | 1+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||
| 12 | GK | WAL | Paul Jones | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 30 May 2004 Source: Competitions

### Top scorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Michael Owen | 16 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| 2 | 8 | FW | | Emile Heskey | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 7 | MF | | Harry Kewell | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | 7 | MF | | Danny Murphy | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | 17 | MF | | Steven Gerrard | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | 4 | DF | | Sami Hyypiä | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 11 | MF | | Vladimír Šmicer | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 28 | MF | | Bruno Cheyrou | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | 16 | MF | | Dietmar Hamann | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | 5 | FW | | Milan Baroš | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | FW | | Florent Sinama Pongolle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 20 | FW | | Anthony Le Tallec | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | 25 | DF | | Djimi Traoré | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 55 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 80 |