Liverpool 2022/23 season review: Sensational Salah can't save the Reds | OneFootball

It was a season to forget for Liverpool with the club missing out on the Champions League for the first time in nearly a decade.

Competition breakdown

Premier League – 5th

A season without Champions League for the first time since 2016.

No matter what way you look at it, that is a failure of a campaign for Liverpool.

Despite a late season surge, including seven wins in a row between April and May, the Reds’ results post-Word Cup were their ultimate undoing.

Jürgen Klopp’s side struggled with key injuries at times but with Tottenham and Chelsea also out of sorts, there really can be no excuses for their lack of top-level European football next term.

Champions League – Round of 16

Despite an opening round trouncing away at Napoli, Klopp’s men won the remainder of their group games including a 7-1 win at Ibrox against Rangers.

That defeat against the Italians however, meant that the Reds finished second in the group and were drawn against Real Madrid in the round of 16.

Despite going toe-to-toe with Los Blancos in last term’s final, this time around the Spanish giants were a cut above Liverpool as they lost 6-2 on aggregate.

FA Cup – Fourth round

Ever since Klopp’s arrival, Liverpool have taken the cup competitions seriously but this season they found their match in the early rounds.

Brighton got the better of the Merseyside outfit in the fourth round this season, with Kaoru Mitoma scoring a last minute winner for the Seagulls in their 2-1 win.

EFL Cup – Fourth round

Liverpool were unlucky enough to be drawn against Manchester City in the fourth round of this season’s EFL Cup with Pep Guardiola’s side beating them 3-2 thanks to Nathan Aké’s winner.

Player of the season: Mohamed Salah

An honourable mention to Alisson who has, once again, been fantastic all season long despite some calamitous defending in front him.

But the clear winner of Liverpool’s Player of the Season simply has to be Mohamed Salah.

The Egypt international has really hit his stride in the second half of the season, scoring 19 by the end of the campaign, 30 in all competitions.

Game of the season: Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham

No game summed up Liverpool’s campaign more than their 4-3 win over Tottenham in April.

The Reds went 3-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes with Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Salah netting to a rapturous home crowd.

But some serious mental lapses at the back saw Spurs pull level with Richarlison scoring what he thought was the equaliser in the 93rd minute.

Just 60 seconds later though, Diogo Jota did score the winner and helped the home side secure three points that would prove vital come the end of the campaign.

Top goalscorer: Mohamed Salah

Scoring goals in a winning team is, in relative terms, pretty easy.

When things are clicking and your team mates are firing, the goals flow.

Scoring 30 in all competitions, for a team that, at points, were completely dysfunctional, is nothing short of miraculous.

That was the number Mohamed Salah ended this campaign with and this season, perhaps more than any other, showed just why he’s one of the greatest we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.

Rising star: Stefan Bajetic

You have to be pretty special to get sustained minutes as a teenager in this Liverpool side.

Stefan Bajetic is exactly that.

The 18-year-old came into the Reds midfield with a fairly weighty reputation, having impressed in the youth set-up over the past couple of years.

But after a raft of injuries in January, Bejatic was given his chance as a starter and didn’t look back.

The Spaniard played 26 times in all competitions this season and would have got plenty more minutes were it not for a season-ending injury in March.

What comes next?

With experienced figures like Roberto Firmino and James Milner leaving this summer, it’s going to be a fascinating off-season at Anfield.

The Reds need a pretty substantial squad overhaul with the midfield a particular area of concern.

Will Jürgen Klopp be given the resources to compete properly? And can Liverpool regain their top four place whilst slogging it out in the Europa League?

Next season really does feel like a pivotal one.