The 2015–16 season was Liverpool Football Club's 124th season in existence and their 54th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. It was also the club's 24th consecutive season in the Premier League. Along with the Premier League, Liverpool competed in the FA Cup, Football League Cup and UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. It started with a 1–0 away win against Stoke City in the league and ended with a 1–3 defeat to Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League Final.
The season was the first since 1997–98 without former captain Steven Gerrard, who departed to LA Galaxy.
Season review
Pre-season
On 10 July 2015, Jordan Henderson was announced as the new captain of Liverpool following the departure of Steven Gerrard. The next day, Liverpool travelled to Asia for four pre-season matches with a 30-man squad. They played their first match of the pre-season on 14 July against Thai Premier League XI and won the match comfortably with the score of 4–0 in which Lazar Marković, Mamadou Sakho, Adam Lallana and Divock Origi scored a goal each. On 17 July, Adam Lallana and James Milner scored a goal apiece in a 2–1 win over Brisbane Roar. On 20 July, Liverpool won 2–0 against Adelaide United with goals from James Milner and Danny Ings.
For the fourth game, Liverpool travelled to Malaysia to face Malaysia XI and the match finished a goal apiece with goals from Patrick Wleh and Jordon Ibe. On 1 August, Liverpool played against the Finnish side HJK Helsinki and won the match 2–0 with goals from Divock Origi and Philippe Coutinho. Liverpool played their last match of the pre-season against Swindon Town and won the game 2–1 with goals from debutant Christian Benteke and youngster Sheyi Ojo, who scored the winning goal.
August
On 7 August, James Milner was appointed the vice captain of Liverpool FC. On 9 August 2015, Liverpool won their opening match against Stoke City in the Premier League. Philippe Coutinho scored the winning goal in the 86th minute with a long-range effort which ultimately gave Liverpool a 1–0 win. This victory came at the site of their biggest defeat, when Stoke won 6–1 that May. On 17 August, Liverpool played the second match of the league season at Anfield against AFC Bournemouth in a 1–0 win for Liverpool, in which Christian Benteke scored his first competitive goal for the club. On 24 August, Liverpool played a 0–0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. On 29 August 2015, Liverpool lost the first match of the season against West Ham United in a 3–0 win for the away side. This was West Ham's first victory at Anfield since 1963.
September
On 13 September, Liverpool travelled to Manchester to play against Manchester United and suffered a 3–1 defeat in the latest instalment of their rivalry. On 17 September, Liverpool began their UEFA Europa League campaign with a 1–1 draw away against Bordeaux. On 21 September, Liverpool played a 1–1 draw with Norwich City at home, with Danny Ings scoring the goal for Liverpool. On 24 September, Liverpool won the third-round match of the League Cup via penalties after 1–1 draw in 120 minutes against Carlisle United. Liverpool registered a 3–2 victory over Aston Villa on 27 September with James Milner scoring in the second minute of play and Daniel Sturridge scoring a brace.
October
Liverpool began the first match of the month on 1 October, with yet another 1–1 draw in the Europa league group stage game against Sion, where Adam Lallana scored his second goal in a row in the competition. On 4 October, Liverpool played their 225th Merseyside Derby against Everton with the game ending again in a 1–1 draw, Liverpool's goal coming from Danny Ings. This was the fifth time in Liverpool's previous six games that they had taken a 1–0 lead only to have the game end in a 1–1 draw; they had just one win in their previous nine games.
Just one hour after the game, manager Brendan Rodgers was sacked following the result which left Liverpool in tenth place after eight games. Later, it was known that the decision to sack him had already been made prior to the match against Everton. The following day, Rodgers released a statement through the League Managers Association, stating, "I am, of course incredibly disappointed to be leaving... [but] it has been both an honour and a privilege to manage one of the game's great clubs." On 8 October 2015, former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp agreed a three-year deal to become Liverpool manager, replacing Rodgers. Klopp's debut game was a 0–0 away draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 17 October 2015.