After finishing fifth the previous season, Liverpool came back and won their thirteenth league title.

They also won the Football League Cup for the second successive season, beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley Stadium.

However, Liverpool were decisively beaten by Flamengo at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup final.

It was also a season with major changes in the team, as many of the players who won the trophies over the previous seasons were being replaced by players who would go on to be part of the team that remained successful for the rest of the decade.

Players such as Bruce Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Ian Rush, Ronnie Whelan and Craig Johnston came into the team during the season and would make their mark on changing the side, that would go forward into the decade.