Having finished second the previous season, Liverpool had high hopes to win their first league title since 1990. Indeed, they topped the Premier League table after their first 12 games (including a seven-game winning streak), picking up 30 points out of a possible 36, a run which saw them four points clear at the top from reigning champions Arsenal. However, on 9 November 2002, they suffered a surprise 1–0 away defeat at the hands of high-fliers Middlesbrough. This wasn't completely disastrous; it did see their lead cut to one point but three days later, they completed a miserable week after they bowed out of the Champions League after failure to beat Basel. That week's two results started a miserable display of 13 matches without victory (including 11 league games) and a dismal run of only two wins in 16 league matches (both away at Southampton and West Ham United) which ended such title hopes. However, their first home league win in four months came in a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 8 March 2003, starting a more promising run of seven wins in eight league games which almost took the club to Champions League qualification anyway, but a defeat at the hands of Chelsea on the final game of the season buried those hopes. A League Cup win following a 2–0 victory over arch-rivals Manchester United was the sole glorious moment of a disappointing season.

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