Liverpool crowned 2024/25 champions of the Premier League

by Mick the Ram

Liverpool have claimed the Premier League for the 2024/25 season, winning the title in a canter with four games still to play.

They were not expected to be serious challenges after losing long-term manager Jürgen Klopp at the end of last season, replacing him with Dutch coach Arne Slot.

However, they hit the ground running winning seven of their first eight and eleven of the first thirteen matches to establish a healthy lead, which they never surrendered.

Yesterday’s 5-1 annihilation of a sorry looking and totally submissive Tottenham Hotspur outfit was their 25th victory of the season, taking them past 80 point mark and 15 points above their closest challengers Arsenal.

The Merseyside team end Manchester City’s four seasons of dominance of the English game.

Red half of city descend on ground

Pre-match the whole area around Anfield was a sea of red from mid-morning onwards as tens of thousands of supporters waited in long lines to be among the first into the stadium.

Pubs were packed to the rafters and basically it seemed everyone of a red persuasion from the city of Liverpool had made the pilgrimage to be around the ground.

Tickets selling for thousands of pounds

Even the owner John W. Henry made one of his rare visits for what was effectively the team’s coronation, and so keen were supporters to be at the game for a “I was there” moment, tickets were reportedly changing hands for up to £3,000 on the black market.

Once that final whistle sounded Liverpool a deafening wall of noise exploded across the famous old ground, with fireworks leaving a fog of red smoke as emotions were released with tears in the stands and from the players on the pitch.

Covid spoiled previous title win

The fans had been waiting 35 years to join in a celebration of this kind on their home soil. They had of course won the title in the 2019/20 season, but it coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that squad of players could only celebrate with invited family and friends at a deserted Anfield.

This time those supporters were going to lap up every precious moment this time, and for many it was their first time, because it was back in 1990 – under the stewardship of Sir Kenny Dalglish – that fans had last been able to experience such elation with their team.

The bigger picture saw the Reds equal Manchester United’s total of 20 top-flight titles.

Inevitable from very early on

Liverpool had given Manchester City a good run for their money in the early 2020’s, but they were significantly off the pace towards the end of last season, and following Klopp’s farewell, there was definitely an air of uncertainty when the season kicked off.

However, any anxieties were quickly dispelled and as the season wore on there became a feeling of inevitability, which is to the great credit of both the players and the new head coach. 

New boss takes much of the credit

Skipper Virgil van Dijk afterwards praised his new boss: “To replace Jürgen is a big job and the manager did it in his own way and deserves a lot of credit; I don’t think anyone from the outside world thought we would be Premier League champions.”

The 46-year-old Slot has defied all expectations and he was a mixture of emotions at the finish: “Looking back I have enjoyed the whole day. You could see looking in their eyes how much it meant to them. It is unbelievable and from this moment now I am part of the history of this great football club.”

He becomes the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in their debut campaign after the successes of Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte.