Liverpool players plan title party but fans face being fleeced for tickets

Telegraph

21-04-2025

Liverpool are planning a title party as Arne Slot's side gather to watch Arsenal's clash with Crystal Palace, but fans face being fleeced for tickets on the blackmarket this Sunday.
Arne Slot will clinch the Premier League in his first season as manager if Palace win at the Emirates on Wednesday and Virgil van Dijk said the squad plan to watch together. The champagne will be on ice if Arsenal win, with Liverpool champions if they beat Tottenham at Anfield this weekend.
'To be honest, I expect Arsenal to win at home,' he said. 'But if it doesn't happen, then I think it will be nice to be together. However that may look, we'll discuss in the next couple of days, if Arsenal win their game, they probably expect they will do against a very good Crystal Palace, we have to do our job.
'It doesn't matter (when). I want to be champions of England. I want to let this dream become true. I would love to lift the cup for this club that I love so much, if it doesn't happen on Wednesday, then we have an opportunity on Sunday to do it in front of our own fans, in front of a red Anfield and it will be special, that's for sure.'
Liverpool players and staff gathered Formby Hall Hotel in 2020 and watched as Chelsea beat Manchester City to seal the club's first league title since 1990.
Supporters face prices beyond £2,000 for a pair of seats to watch their potential Premier League-winning party against Tottenham at Anfield.
VIP packages are also being offered for as much as £3,500 by touts and resale websites as the blackmarket cashed in on the sought-after fixture.
Another ticket resale website offers a standard pair of seats together in the stadium's Central Longside Lower section for £2,250.
LiveFootballTickets, meanwhile, are offering solitary Anfield Road Upper section seats for £689 - a seven-fold increase on estimated face value price.
With Covid-related stadium restrictions limiting celebrations last time Liverpool lifted the title, the Anfield fixture against Tottenham is one of the most sought-after tickets in years.
However, while resale prices are largely the responsibility of individuals looking to cash in, they compound the frustrations of supporter groups campaigning against clubs increasing prices next season. The Spirit of Shankly group has been campaigning for 'fairer' deals alongside the Football Supporters' Association's Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign.
Liverpool stand on the verge of Premier League glory after winning at Leicester on Sunday to send the Foxes down. Trent Alexander-Arnold struck the King Power Stadium winner to remind Liverpool fans what they will be missing should he depart for Real Madrid this summer – but Van Dijk insisted he is none the wiser over his future.
'Whatever may happen in the future for him, that's something that he has to resolve with himself and the family,' Van Dijk said. 'But he's a Liverpool player at this point and he's important for our team.
'Since I joined the club, he has been a fantastic player and there's a lot of good things that he will always be remembered for if he decides to leave. But listen, at this point, we don't know as a group what's going to happen. He is already under a lot of pressure already I think so there is no point for me to put him on the spot whatsoever.'