Final league position 2014-15: 9th According to Opta, Peter Crouch’s goal was his 47th headed goal in the Premier League, a new competition record. The previous record holder was Alan Shearer. Stoke City’s 54 points in this season was now the highest-ever total in the Premier League. Their best top-flight total is 57 in a 42-game season in 1982-83 in League Division One. It was the first time that City had ended a Premier League season with positive goal difference and the first time in the top division since they finished fifth in League Division One in 1974-75. Mark Hughes had now won three of 18 Premier League matches as a manager against Liverpool (nine defeats). The Potters had now become the third team to have a five goal half-time lead in a Premier League game. The other two were Sheffield Wednesday (a 5-0 win at home to Bolton Wanderers on 8 November 1997) and Manchester City (a 6-1 win at Burnley on 3 April 2010). This was the first time that Stoke City had scored six goals in a game since beating Grimsby Town 6-0 in a FA Cup 3rd round 2nd replay on 28 January 1987. The last time they scored six in a league game occured in the previous month (21 December 1986) in 7-2 win against Leeds United in League Division Two. The last time they hit six in a top flight game was on 10 December 1966 when Harry Burrows (a former Villa winger) netted a hat-trick in a 6-1 win against Aston Villa in League Division One. This was their biggest win over Liverpool since another 6-1 success on 6 February 1897.

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Final league position 2014-15: 6th Steven Gerrard made his 710th and final appearance for Liverpool and scored his 186th goal for the Reds. In the heaviest defeat of his career, before this match, he had never lost a Premier League game by more than four goals. Stoke City were now the first team to score five goals against Liverpool in a league game since they suffered a 5-1 defeat at Coventry City on 19 December 1992 (the first season of the Premier League). The last time Liverpool conceded six or more goals in a game was on Easter Monday in 1963 (15 April) when Bill Shankly's newly-promoted Reds were beaten 7-2 at top-of-the-table Tottenham Hotspur in League Division One. Jimmy Greaves scored four for Spurs while Roger Hunt claimed Liverpool's goals. It was a much better day three days earlier (Good Friday) for Shanks' charges as they beat the same opponents 5-2 at Anfield. This was the first time Liverpool had ever conceded five first half goals in a Premier League game. The previous time in the top flight was at Aston Villa in a 5-1 defeat on 15 December 1976 in League Division One. They had not been trailing by a five goal or more margin at half-time since a 6-1 defeat at Cardiff City on 28 December 1957 in League Division Two. In the top flight, it was not since a 6-0 defeat at Arsenal on 28 November 1931. There had now been 100 goals this season in Premier League matches involving Liverpool (52 for and 48 against). In the previous season, they scored 101 goals in the Premier League.