Liverpool 18/19 — 97 Points, European Kings: Full Squad & Ratings

Liverpool 2018/19 season — all 18 players rated, best XI, and how to draft them in 38-0.

Liverpool 2018/19 — Season Story

Liverpool's 2018/19 season is the only campaign in Premier League history where a team finished with 97 points and did not win the title. Jurgen Klopp's side lost exactly one league game all season — a January defeat at Manchester City — and still finished a point behind the champions, the cruellest possible return for a team that had pushed the limits of what a runner-up can achieve.

The European campaign made up for it in the most dramatic way imaginable. Trailing Barcelona 3-0 from the first leg of the semi-final, Liverpool produced the greatest night in Anfield's modern history: a 4-0 victory with Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum scoring twice each, completing one of the great comebacks in Champions League history. The final in Madrid followed, a 2-0 win over Tottenham in which Mohamed Salah scored from the penalty spot inside two minutes and Origi added the second late on.

The season belonged to Virgil van Dijk as much as anyone. Signed from Southampton for 75 million pounds in January 2018, he transformed Liverpool's defence into the best in Europe, won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, and made the back line the platform for everything the team did. Alisson Becker, signed that summer, conceded only 22 league goals in his first season.

The squad that season was a machine in every line: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson providing width from full-back, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson controlling midfield, and the front three of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino terrifying every defence in Europe. It is rated 83.2 OVR in the 38-0 dataset — one of the strongest squads in the pool — and it is the squad that ended Liverpool's long wait for European glory.

The 97-Point Near Miss

Ninety-seven points would have won the league in any other season in Premier League history. Liverpool lost just one match, drew seven, and still finished second — the highest points total ever recorded by a non-champion. The single defeat, 2-1 at the Etihad in January, was ultimately the difference, and the margin of one point was the narrowest title race in a decade.

The pain was softened by the context: Manchester City's 98-point season was itself a record at the time. Liverpool had matched a juggernaut blow for blow, and the near miss hardened the team rather than breaking it. Twelve months later they would go one better, and the 2018/19 squad's legacy is that it turned a record-breaking disappointment into the foundation of a dynasty.

The Miracle at Anfield

After losing 3-0 in Barcelona — a game in which they had played well but been picked apart by Lionel Messi — Liverpool's European campaign looked finished. Klopp's response was a team talk that has become legendary: 'Why would we not score four?' The team that walked out at Anfield on 7 May 2019 believed it could, even without Salah and Roberto Firmino, both injured.

The goals arrived with almost surreal timing. Origi scored after seven minutes from a corner routine the club had practised for years. Wijnaldum scored twice in two minutes after half-time. Then, with 11 minutes left, Trent Alexander-Arnold pretended to walk away from a corner before whipping the ball to the back post for Origi's volley — a piece of quick thinking that has been replayed a million times. Anfield shook, Barcelona collapsed, and the tie was won 4-3 on aggregate.

The Madrid Final

The final in Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano was nothing like the semi-final — tight, nervy and decided early. Salah's penalty after 23 seconds of play, won when Sadio Mane's shot struck Moussa Sissoko's arm, settled the nerves. Tottenham grew into the game but never seriously threatened Alisson, who made the best save of the match late on.

Origi, the semi-final hero, sealed it in stoppage time with a left-footed finish after a swift counter-attack, making him the first player to score in the semi-final and final since the competition's modern format. The 2-0 win gave Liverpool their sixth European Cup and Klopp his first trophy at the club — the moment the empire began.

Key Players & Ratings

Virgil van Dijk (91 OVR) is the standout — the highest-rated defender in the entire 38-0 pool and the PFA Player of the Year that season. Alisson Becker (89) and Mohamed Salah (89) are the other elite names, with Sadio Mane (88) not far behind, and Roberto Firmino (85) the perfect link player. Trent Alexander-Arnold (83) and Andy Robertson (84) provide the width that defined the system.

The squad averages 83.2 OVR, well above the 80.7 pool average, and the depth is exceptional: Fabinho (84), Jordan Henderson (83), Wijnaldum (83) and Joe Gomez (81) are all genuine quality. This is a premium landing in the draft, with elite options in every single line of the pitch.

Full 18-Man Squad

Best XI — Liverpool 2018/19

The highest-rated eleven available from this squad in 38-0:

• GK Alisson Becker 89 OVR
• RB Trent Alexander-Arnold 83 OVR
• CB Virgil van Dijk 91 OVR
• CB Joël Matip 82 OVR
• LB Andy Robertson 84 OVR
• CDM Fabinho 84 OVR
• CM Jordan Henderson 83 OVR
• CM Georginio Wijnaldum 83 OVR
• RW Mohamed Salah 89 OVR
• LW Sadio Mané 88 OVR
• CF Roberto Firmino 85 OVR

Drafting This Squad in 38-0

When this squad lands, you cannot really go wrong — the only question is which need to solve first. Van Dijk is the best defender in the game and should be the pick for any team without an elite centre-back. Alisson solves the goalkeeper problem permanently. Salah is a game-changing right winger, Mane a left-sided star, and Firmino a creator who scores.

In Legend mode the hierarchy is worth knowing precisely: Van Dijk (91), Alisson and Salah (89), Mane (88), Firmino (85). Even the fifth or sixth options here — Fabinho, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold — are better than most squads' first options, so the only mistake would be passing a top-tier name for a need you could fill later.

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