ESPN
Apr 27, 2025, 02:12 PM ET
Finally, Liverpool have clinched the 2024-25 Premier League title, their first since 2020-21 and their first under new manager Arne Slot, who succeeded club legend Jürgen Klopp as manager last summer.
Sunday's 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur ensured they could no longer be caught by second-place Arsenal. After Dominic Solanke (a former Liverpool player) opened the scoring for the visitors in the 11th minute with an impressive header, the Reds leveled through Luis Díaz just five minutes later and never looked back, with goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and a Destiny Udogie own goal completing the rout amid a raucous festival atmosphere at Anfield.
After weeks of waiting, let the celebrations begin!
With 24 wins and just two defeats in 33 matches, the Reds have an unassailable 15-point lead with four games remaining, and while that record makes it sound like things have been easy for Slot & Co. this season, there were plenty of dramatic moments along the way to just their second league title since 1990.
So let's review the highs and lows of a brilliant campaign.
Aug. 17, 2024: First game, and first win, of the season
Things were set up nicely for Slot to have an easy entry to life in the Premier League, with a trip to newly promoted Ipswich Town on the opening weekend. However, things were anything but smooth, with a frustrating scoreless first half in which their hosts had the better scoring chances.
Whatever Slot said at half-time seemed to work, as the Reds came out determined to break the deadlock. They finally did so after 60 minutes via Diogo Jota, who coolly converted after Mohamed Salah had broken the offside trap to get in behind and apply the key pass. The Egypt international would score his first goal of the season -- he's up to 27 goals and 18 assists with four rounds left -- five minutes later to put the result beyond doubt.
Sept. 1, 2024: A statement win at Man United
After a fairly rote 2-0 win over Brentford the week prior, Liverpool took a trip to Old Trafford for a sterner test of Slot's credentials...
... or so we thought. Slot's counter-pressing tactics worked to perfection against a sluggish Manchester United side, with all three goals in a 3-0 win coming via changes in possession after the Reds applied pressure. First, Salah intercepted a poor pass by Casemiro to cross for Luis Diaz to head home after 35 minutes. The Colombia international added his second seven minutes later, dispossessing Casemiro deep in United territory, and playing a 1-2 with Salah before firing beyond André Onana.
Liverpool would make it 3-0 early in the second half after Alexis Mac Allister stole possession from Kobbie Mainoo and laid the ball off for Dominik Szoboszlai, who then teed up Salah to fire home from the edge of the area. Three wins in three games had the Reds second after the first month. Not a bad start.
Sept. 14, 2024: First bump in the road
The visit of Nottingham Forest didn't seem that intimidating back then, but Nuno Espirito Santo's side pulled off the perfect counterattacking 1-0 away win to stall Slot & Co. after their promising start.
The Reds were easily rebuffed by Forest's stout, deep defending until a 72nd minute fast break by subs Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi yielded the game's only goal, and Forest's first win at Anfield for 55 years. The defeat dropped Liverpool to fourth after four games and had pundits pontificating about Slot's ability to win at this level -- little did anyone know this would be their only league defeat until early April.
Oct. 27, 2024: Salah to the rescue at Arsenal
On matchday nine, leaders Liverpool traveled to the Emirates to take on second-place Arsenal n what turned out to be a pulsating, dramatic affair fit to decide a league title.
Mikel Arteta's side showed no mercy with a flurry of attacks in the opening minutes, culminating in Bukayo Saka's ninth-minute goal as the England international raced onto Ben White's long ball, out-ran Andy Robertson to the ball and fired confidently beyond Caoimhín Kelleher. Virgil van Dijk leveled 10 minutes later after a clever set piece, with Díaz flicking Trent Alexander-Arnold's free kick on for the team captain to nod beyond David Raya from close range.
Arsenal would take the lead again on the verge of half-time via Mikel Merino and they held the 2-1 edge until the 81st minute, when Darwin Núñez met Alexander-Arnold's long pass and drew two defenders across before setting up Salah, whose first-time shot was too much for Raya. The draw meant Liverpool maintained control of the league table.
Nov. 2, 2024: Salah scores the winner vs. Brighton
The Reds are no stranger to a comeback win, and this 2-1 reversal at Anfield was a classic of the genre. After a sleepy bit of defending allowed Ferdi Kadioglu to convert Danny Welbeck's low cross in the 14th minute, Liverpool had little luck finding a way to level, let alone win.
And then, two goals in two minutes ensured they maintained their winning ways, with Gakpo's cross finding the net -- Núñez ducking under it froze the Brighton goalkeeper -- and Salah curling a stunning finish beyond Bart Verbruggen to flip the game on its head. The victory earned Slot the honor of the most wins (eight) by a Liverpool manager in their first 10 league games, and kept them firmly on top of the pack heading into a busy period.
Dec. 1, 2024: Liverpool win the first meeting of Arne Slot vs. Pep Guardiola
Liverpool vs. Manchester City has been the Premier League's biggest fixture for much of the last decade, and Slot had to wait until almost halfway through the season to get his first taste of it and pit his wits against Guardiola. He must have wondered what all the fuss was about.
Just 12 minutes in, Salah raced down the wing to meet Alexander-Arnold's weighted pass from deep, teased his way into the area and fired a low ball to the back post for Gakpo to tap home. Despite only having 43% of the possession, Liverpool dominated the game in terms of chances against a City side that was starting to come apart at the seams. Núñez's pressure on Rúben Dias led to City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega conceding a penalty, which Salah clinically converted 12 minutes from time to seal a 2-0 win at Anfield.
Dec. 22, 2024: So many goals over the holidays!
While the rest of Europe's top leagues take a break over Christmas, the Premier League packs its schedule full of matches. Its a new test for most managers coming to England from abroad, but it was another that Slot passed with flying colors.
Liverpool won all three of their games between Dec. 22-29, scoring 14 goals along the way. That run began with the helter-skelter 6-3 win at Tottenham, which Liverpool were leading 5-1 with half an hour remaining, before they came from a goal down early on to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield and then put West Ham United to the sword with a 5-0 win in London. Salah's four goals over the festive period helped him to a tally of 20 from just 26 games for the campaign at the turn of the year.
Jan. 18, 2025: Up steps Darwin
After that Christmas run, though, the strain began to show at the start of the new year. Following successive draws in the league against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, as well as a 1-0 loss at Spurs in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal, Liverpool looked like they were going to be drop more points at Brentford and risk getting reeled in by Arsenal. They needed a hero, and they found one in an unexpected source.
With just two league goals for the season up to that point, Núñez's usefulness to the team and future at the club had been the subject of much debate, but the Uruguayan came on as a second-half substitute to deliver for Liverpool at a key moment in the season. As the clock ticked over into stoppage time, he was on hand at the edge of the six-yard box to sweep home Alexander-Arnold's cross, and with Brentford still reeling he struck again by firing into the roof of the net from close range.
Feb. 23, 2025: Liverpool complete the double over Guardiola and Man City
Manchester City's awful form when they went to Anfield in December could still have been written off as a blip, albeit a historically big one. But by the time of the return fixture they had long been in full crisis mode and had just been knocked out of the Champions League.
Liverpool showed them no mercy on their visit to the Etihad, scoring from a neat corner-kick routine with barely 15 minutes played; Mac Allister's disguised delivery to the near post was steered back by Szoboszlai for Salah to fire home for his 30th goal of the season. He then returned the favor by teeing up Szoboszlai to roll home from the edge of the box and double Liverpool's lead. It was just reward for Szoboszlai, who produced the sort of display that showed how he had grown into one of Liverpool's key players.
Apr. 2, 2025: Fiery Merseyside derby ends in victory
Everton's dramatic draw against Liverpool in February was a memorable climax to the club's last-ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, and for a while they threatened to pinch another point off their rivals at Anfield.
James Tarkowski, who scored that late equalizer in February's 2-2 draw, was fortunate to still be on the pitch after he caught Mac Allister above the ankle with a late tackle, and then Liverpool were lucky to not go behind when Beto stormed through on goal but hammered his shot against the post with Kelleher beaten. But the hosts sealed a 1-0 win with a moment of class as Díaz's backheel found Jota, who slalomed into the box before finishing coolly to end his run of 10 games without a goal.
Apr. 13, 2025: Van Dijk the hero in dramatic late win
That narrow derby victory was immediately followed by a shock 3-2 loss at Fulham, where they took an early lead but ended up 3-1 down at halftime. By this point the title was all but assured but those nagging doubts might have got louder when, in their next game against West Ham, Andy Robertson's 86th-minute own goal leveled the score at 1-1.
They needn't have worried. Just three minutes later, Van Dijk headed home Mac Allister's corner to secure the win as Liverpool took a big step toward the finish line. Four days later, the captain gave his club and the fans another big boost by signing a new two-year contract, a week after Salah had done the same. "It was always Liverpool," Van Dijk said as his new deal was announced.
Apr. 27, 2025: The party begins!
The mood at Anfield was electric with anticipation and excitement for a 20th league title, but Solanke's early header from a free kick gave the hosts a stunning lead to briefly silence the partisan Liverpool crowd.
Not to worry, though, as the Reds roared back to a 3-1 lead by half-time: Luis Diaz converted a low cross from Szoboszlai and was deemed onside after VAR review, and Mac Allister made it 2-1 with a thundering finish into the top corner after Liverpool won back possession on the edge of the Spurs box. Cody Gakpo then pounced on a loose ball and some lazy Spurs defending to add a third after the half-hour mark, prompting the start of the festivities.
Of course, there was still a second half to play but Salah scored his 27th league goal of the season to make it 4-1, and he was on hand to pressure Udogie into turning an Alexander-Arnold cross into his own net with 20 minutes left to complete the scoring. Party on!
The title makes Slot just the third Liverpool manager in history to win a league crown in his first season with the club, following Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish. Not bad company.
