BREAKING NEWS Liverpool WIN the Premier League with four games to spare after thrashing Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield - as Reds claim record-equalling 20th title
Liverpool have been crowned Premier League champions after thumping Tottenham 5-1 at a euphoric Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds have won their 20th English league title and second Premier League trophy.
It draws them level with Manchester United for English top division titles and means they are just four trophies off their bitter rivals' total haul of 60.
And they could be set for as many as four guards of honour should their remaining opponents wish it.
It will be just reward for an outstanding season which has seen Liverpool win 25 of their 34 Premier League matches, losing only two to Nottingham Forest and Fulham.
Slot, who took the reins from Jurgen Klopp ahead of the start of the season, has become just the fifth manager to win the Premier League in his first season in English football, taking his place alongside Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
He has been tipped for the LMA Manager of the Year award by Mail Sport's Oliver Holt after taking to English football swimmingly.
A mammoth 26-game unbeaten run between September 21 and April 6 saw Liverpool pull well clear of Arsenal, who at best may have to settle for a third consecutive second-placed berth.
It is their first league title in five seasons - interrupting Manchester City's record-shattering run of four on the spin - and will finally give fans a chance to celebrate properly at the ground, unlike their first during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under Slot's stewardship, the Reds could yet reach 95 points, which would make them the fifth-best title-winning team in Premier League history.
That's all the more remarkable considering that clubs often struggle when moving on from a dynasty - Klopp's exit after almost a decade left the possibility of a collapse.
Manchester United still haven't won the league since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, while Arsenal have yet to recover the glory days of Arsene Wenger's first decade at the club.
Many pundits thought that just a top-four finish was aspirational for Liverpool, especially considering their quiet summer. Federico Chiesa was the only player to join the squad, while Giorgi Mamardashvili, signed from Valencia, will link up with his new team-mates this summer.
Slot's success has been built on his resourcefulness, including squeezing a renewed wind out of their senior stars.
Salah's superb season has seen him post the best numbers of his career for goals and assists
Mohamed Salah, aged 32 and armed with a new haircut, has been in the form of his life with a 28 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League - a record total of 46 for a 38-game season.
Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, has recovered the sort of form that made him the fear of strikers across the land before his ACL injury in 2020, brought on by a horror challenge by Jordan Pickford.
Both have been rewarded handsomely with new two-year deals worth in the region of £400,000 per week.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's future is yet to be decided, though he increasingly looks poised to join Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer. All the same, he will leave with his head held high after helping to ensure the Reds did not suffer another 30-year title drought.
The right-back, who has been with the Reds since he was six, celebrated jubilantly as he tore off his shirt after scoring in the 1-0 win at Leicester on Easter Sunday.
Elsewhere, Slot has improved the fortunes of players such as Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ryan Gravenberch.
Consistently prolific and tight at the back, Liverpool have scored some landmark victories along the way.
Salah and Virgil van Dijk have signed new deals in a major boost to the project going forward
Slot could hardly have made his predecessor Jurgen Klopp more proud after a stunning year
Next season they will hope to build on their success and amend the few failures, such as their collapse against PSG in the Champions League
Slot quickly became a favourite when he led Liverpool to a 3-0 win at Manchester United in just his third league game in charge.
A 2-0 victory over Manchester City at home on December 1 - courtesy of goals from Gakpo and Salah - solidified the impression that the title might change hands.
There were times when it looked like the wheels might come off, with consecutive draws against Newcastle and Fulham in December betrayed a rare shakiness.
A 2-2 draw in that thunderous Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, where James Tarkowski's 90th-minute equaliser preceded Curtis Jones and Arne Slot seeing red, also suggested the side still struggled under pressure.
But in a season where Liverpool have marked up wins with consistency - six in their last seven games - the occasional blip has been cause for little worry.
At one point it even looked as if they might secure a historic Quadruple - but defeats to Plymouth in the FA Cup, Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, and PSG in the Champions League quashed those hopes in a brutal period between February and March.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Not a football club' – Former Man Utd boss launches scathing attack on old side while heaping praise on bitter rivals
LOUIS VAN GAAL has launched a stunning broadside on former club Manchester United. The Dutchman was in the Old Trafford hot seat between 2014 and 2016. 4 Louis van Gaal has hit out at the way Manchester United operate behind the scenes Credit: AP 4 Ruben Amorim has struggled since joining the club last November Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has also been criticised for cost-cutting Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Van Gaal, 73, won a solitary FA Cup during his tenure as United boss. And he's been watching their horror 2024/25 season from afar. The Red Devils finished without silverware last term, languishing 15th in the Premier League. INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe employed Ruben Amorim midway through the season to stop the rot. READ MORE ON MAN UTD TO BE FRANK Spurs to hijack Man Utd's £60m Mbeumo as Brentford identify Frank replacement But results continued to slide under the former Sporting Lisbon chief. Van Gaal told Sky Sports: "It is still a commercial club. "It is not a football club. I have said that before - and that's always difficult." The 73-year-old believes the club will never find success unless Amorim is given the chance to choose his own players. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK He continued: "When [it's] not the manager deciding which player has to come, it's very difficult. "I think that is the way it should be. Bruno Fernandes reveals role his wife played in £200m Al-Hilal transfer snub even though Man Utd were ready to cash in "Because then you can fire the manager because he's not getting results. "When other people buy the players, then you have a problem. "You need to have the knowledge [of the manager] because he has to train them." Van Gaal also begged United chiefs to "pay attention" to the way Premier League champions Liverpool are operating under Arne Slot. He added: "Arne Slot is the man who says to his technical manager, you need to buy this player. "Pay attention to [that]." Van Gaal won 54 of his 103 games in charge at Old Trafford. 4 His overall win percentage with the club stands at 52.43 per cent. That figure is lower than three United managers who have followed him through the door at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Erik ten Hag all boast higher win percentages. But current boss Amorim has the lowest of all five. The Portuguese manager has won just 16 of his 42 games in charge - a paltry win percentage of 38.10 per cent. That's the worst of any permanent United manager since Frank O'Farrell in 1971.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
‘Not a football club' – Former Man Utd boss launches scathing attack on old side while heaping praise on bitter rivals
LOUIS VAN GAAL has launched a stunning broadside on former club Manchester United. The Dutchman was in the Old Trafford hot seat between 2014 and 2016. 3 3 Van Gaal, 73, won a solitary FA Cup during his tenure as United boss. And he's been watching their horror 2024/25 season from afar with interest. The Red Devils finished without silverware last term, languishing 15th in the Premier League. Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe - who has embarked on controversial cost-cutting across the club - employed Ruben Amorim midway through the season to stop the rot. But results continued to slide under the former Sporting Lisbon chief. Van Gaal told Sky Sports:"It is still a commercial club. "It is not a football club. I have said that before - and that's always difficult." The 73-year-old believes United will never find success unless Amorim is given the chance to choose his own players. He continued: "When [it's] not the manager deciding which player has to come, it's very difficult. "I think that is the way it should be. Bruno Fernandes reveals role his wife played in £200m Al-Hilal transfer snub even though Man Utd were ready to cash in "Because then you can fire the manager because he's not getting results. "When other people buy the players, then you have a problem. "You need to have the knowledge [of the manager] because he has to train them." Van Gaal also begged United chiefs to "pay attention" to the way Premier League champions Liverpool are operating under Arne Slot. He added: "Arne Slot is the man who says to his technical manager, you need to buy this player. "Pay attention to [that]." Van Gaal won 54 of his 103 games in charge at Old Trafford. His overall win percentage with the club stands at 52.43 per cent. That figure is lower than three United managers who have followed him through the door at Old Trafford. Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Erik ten Hag all boast higher win percentages. But current boss Amorim has the lowest of all five. The Portuguese manager has won just 16 of his 42 games in charge - a paltry win percentage of 38.10 per cent. That's the worst of any permanent United manager since Frank O'Farrell in 1971.
Wales Online
an hour ago
- Wales Online
Swansea City have signed a 'physical specimen' who once considered leaving the game
Swansea City have signed a 'physical specimen' who once considered leaving the game Swansea City have signed former Bolton defender Ricardo Santos Ricardo Santos is now a Swansea City player (Image: Swansea City AFC ) It wasn't that long ago that Ricardo Santos once pondered the idea of turning his back on football. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the centre-back found himself struggling to pay the bills while on the books at non-league Barnet, and was on the verge of applying to be an Amazon delivery driver. Were it not for a phone call from Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt, there's a real chance his footballing career would have fallen by the wayside. 'I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing," he said when looking back on that time. "There were a couple of other offers in football but there wasn't anything good so I started looking for part-time jobs. 'Amazon was the easy one for me. I didn't want to do anything too hard, so driving and delivering seemed OK to me. 'Before I had decided on something I got a call from the gaffer and he said: 'Do you want to come to Bolton', so that was it." Article continues below Now, at the age of 29, and having missed out on promotion to the second tier in a painful play-off final defeat to Oxford United two years ago, Santos has finally reached the Championship. It's a move he might well have thought impossible a few years ago. But having brought the curtain down on a five-year spell Bolton, where he made 207 appearances for the club, many of which were as captain, Santos has become Swansea City's third signing of what's already been a busy summer recruitment drive. For the player himself, this is as good as it's ever been, but it's probably fair to say his arrival on a free transfer is likely to raise a few eyebrows given his age and lack of Championship experience. His recent injury struggles, which punctuated the tail end of this career at Bolton, might also play on the minds of some onlookers, although there's clearly still some confidence he can handle the step up. "It's going to be a challenge for him," Marc Iles of the Bolton News tells WalesOnline. "Ricardo's been at Bolton for five years. They really picked him up and sharpened him up. "At his best, I think he was near enough the best defender in League One. The problem has been that the fitness hasn't been kind to him over the last 12 months. Certainly since the turn of 2024. "So some feel like they didn't really see his best for long enough. Whether there were underlying issues around that, I don't know. But he's not been at his best for a year or so. "I'm not necessarily surprised [by this move]. As I said there's no question that if he was fit during that 12 months, I think Bolton would be in the Championship if I'm honest. He really was that influential." His ability means he's been on the radar at Swansea for some time, with the club's director of football Richard Montague recently stating that the data behind the centre-back's performances point to a player that's suited to the squad Alan Sheehan is looking to build towards ahead of next season. "He's a physical specimen," Iles adds. "You don't see many players of his size that can move as fast as he can when he's fit. He's really, really quick and really, really strong. Very good in the air. "Defensively if you look at the stats, aerial duels, ground duels, all that sort of stuff, they're very favourable. "The general weakness, though, is that idea you've got to keep him fit." Of course, the arrival of Santos comes amid ongoing uncertainty around Harry Darling's future at the club, with the 25-year-old still pondering an improved contract offer as his current deal hurtles towards expiry. However, it's understood Santos is not a direct replacement for Darling, and has instead been brought in to add cover in a position that's already looking thin. But that prospect of playing potentially playing second fiddle for much of the season, Iles argues, could be a concern. "If he's coming in as a reserve centre-half, I'd have reservations over how well he'd suit that," he says. "Coming in and playing cup matches here and there is never great for centre-halves anywhere I don't think, but for someone of his size it always seems to take him a little bit of time to get to this best." Finding that top level of form, he argues, could pay dividends. Article continues below "Physically speaking he's had this pelvic issue that didn't want to shift and that clearly affected his form," he added. "But if he can get clear of that and get back and confident again, then there's no reason why he can't play in the Championship."
