2013–14 Liverpool F.C. season
The 2013–14 season was Liverpool Football Club's 122nd season in existence, their 52nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football, and the club's 22nd consecutive season in the Premier League. The club also competed in the FA Cup and the League Cup. Liverpool enjoyed a memorable season, scoring 101 league goals; the highest number of goals scored by a Premier League runner-up and also the fourth highest number of goals ever scored in the Premier League, as of 2020. Luis Suárez finished as the 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 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 in 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 losses at Manchester City and Chelsea. A 5–1 win over Arsenal on 5 February featured four Liverpool goals in the opening 20 minutes and was to be the first of an 11-game winning run that included Liverpool beating their title rival, 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 to Norwich City that  secured Liverpool's pre-season aim of qualifying for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. But the subsequent 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". However other key moments cited as playing a part in Liverpool falling short of the title include Raheem Sterling incorrectly having a goal disallowed at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium despite being on-side by over a metre; 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, by two points, 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 after the 2012-13 season. Transfers and loans. 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 Competitions. Premier League. This season recorded an all-time high mark of goals scored by Liverpool not only in Premier League seasons, but 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. Squad statistics. Goalscorers. Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total  goals are equal. Awards. The inaugural Players' Awards dinner was held on 6 May at the Liverpool ACC Conference Centre.