After Liverpool were crowned 2024/25 Premier League champions, football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at defining elements of their brilliant title-winning campaign.
Slot’s record-breaking start to season
When he was appointed Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot was handed what looked like an impossible task of replacing an iconic figure in the club’s history.
What Slot needed was a good start, to reassure those concerned about life after the inspirational Jurgen Klopp. What the Dutchman ended up overseeing was even better - a record-breaking, brilliant beginning to his Liverpool reign.
By winning his first three Premier League matches without conceding, Slot became only the third head coach or manager to achieve this feat, after the late Sven-Goran Eriksson (Manchester City, 2007) and Jose Mourinho (Chelsea, 2004).
That helped silence some of the doubters who feared a post-Klopp hangover, earned Slot buy-in from players and supporters, and provided a platform to build on as he looked to instil his methods.
And the records continued to tumble. Among other notable early feats, Slot became the first Liverpool boss to win eight of his first 10 top-flight matches and the joint-quickest head coach or manager to register 10 Premier League wins, reaching double figures in just 12 matches.
"It’s nice to start this way, that’s clear," Slot said in October. Following that start, Liverpool did not look back.
Slot's half-time substitution at Ipswich
Slot’s first Premier League team selection, for Liverpool’s opening 2-0 win at Ipswich Town, featured the eye-catching inclusion of Jarell Quansah ahead of Ibrahima Konate.
But the head coach showed his ruthless side by quickly reversing the decision at half-time and replacing Quansah with Konate, due to his unhappiness with Liverpool’s lack of success in first-half duels.
Quansah's early withdrawal may have been tough on the young centre-back but it led to the establishing of what became Slot’s favoured centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Konate.
It is a partnership on which Liverpool’s title triumph has been built and is a big reason why they have one of the Premier League’s best two defensive records this season with 32 goals conceded - bettered only by Arsenal's 27.
Liverpool conceded just eight goals in their first 12 matches. Van Dijk and Konate started 11 of those matches and their early-season defensive form suggested Chelsea's record of conceding just 15 goals in a Premier League campaign could be in danger.
But Liverpool then shipped nine in their next six Premier League games when the Van Dijk-Konate partnership was broken up during December due to the latter’s knee injury.
This period also contained the first two of only three occasions in 2024/25 when Liverpool conceded three goals in a Premier League game - their 3-3 draw at Newcastle United on 4 December, and 6-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur 18 days later.
As Slot has admitted at different points, the pair have not been totally flawless all season, but Liverpool have been better defensively when Van Dijk and Konate have been together.
They have the highest number of clean sheets among the Premier League’s most regularly used centre-back pairings (11) and Liverpool concede fewer goals-per-game with the pair starting (0.9) than they do without (1.3).
And their successful union this season can all be traced back to half-time, in the away dressing room at Portman Road on day one.
Gravenberch’s importance
Ryan Gravenberch was a Klopp signing, from Bayern Munich in September 2023, though it is under Slot, his fellow Dutchman, that he has flourished.
Gravenberch was used as a substitute 14 times, more than he was as a starter (12) in his first Premier League season, 2023/24, and was primarily employed as a central midfielder whose versatility appealed to Klopp.
But in the absence of a signing to truly fill the void left following Fabinho’s departure a year earlier, Slot looked within ahead of his debut season and identified Gravenberch as the solution to Liverpool’s search for a holding midfielder.
Watch pundits praise Gravenberch's early games in No 6 role
Slot’s repurposing of Gravenberch has been a masterstroke. He has been one of the revelations of Liverpool’s season, growing in confidence and influence as the campaign has progressed and benefitting hugely from consistency in his playing position and selection.
His importance has been highlighted by his status as one of just three ever-present Premier League starters for Liverpool this season.
Meanwhile, Gravenberch's range of qualities is perfectly illustrated by the variety of categories in which he is ranked in the top six among Premier League midfielders. These include aerial-duel success, in which he ranks first with 66 per cent.
How Gravenberch's stats rank among PL midfielders in 2024/25
| Statistic | Total | PL rank |
| Interceptions | 57 | 1st |
|---|---|---|
| Goal build-up movements | 15 | =2nd |
| Successful passes | 1,583 | 3rd |
| Possession wins | 182 | =3rd |
| Progressive carries | 219 | 9th |
Salah’s spectacular season
As a former Premier League Player of the Season, Golden Boot winner (three times, soon to be four), and Playmaker of the Season (once, soon to be twice), Mohamed Salah is no stranger to a stellar campaign.
But, at an age where a Salah slowdown would have been no surprise, he has instead taken things to a whole new level in 2024/25, producing one of the most incredible individual seasons in Premier League history to inspire Liverpool to the title and, also, help earn him a new two-year contract.
Salah, who turns 33 in June, has shattered all manner of records. At times it has felt like a Liverpool game cannot end without him setting a new one.
The Egyptian has been this season’s standout scorer (28 goals) and creator (18 assists), directly contributing to 58 per cent of Liverpool’s tally of 75 goals, and he is the only Premier League player with over 50 per cent involvement in their team’s goals.
His setting of a new record for goals contributions with 46 (and counting) in a 38-game season is among his historic achievements, and has left him on course to become just the fifth player to top the charts for both goals and assists in the same season.
But it is also just one landmark on a staggeringly long list, following a season full of highlight-reel moments and decisive contributions.
Kelleher's contribution
In Alisson, Liverpool have someone who is widely considered to be the Premier League’s best first-choice goalkeeper. They are also in the luxury position of having arguably the division’s best second-choice, Caoimhin Kelleher, backing him up too.
Of the top flight's recognised deputies in goal, only Man City’s Stefan Ortega and West Ham United’s Lukasz Fabianski have played more than Kelleher’s 900 Premier League minutes during 2024/25, underlining the part he has played in Liverpool’s successful season.
Kelleher was really needed when a hamstring injury rendered Alisson absent for 11 matches from mid-October to early December.
Seven of those games were in the Premier League and, as has repeatedly been the case during his Liverpool career, Kelleher did not let anyone down when drafted in to deputise. He helped his team to win five of them and draw the other two.
As well as keeping clean sheets in the league against Aston Villa and Man City, Kelleher also impressively prevented RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid scoring against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League.
Winning the hard way against Chelsea
Although Slot became the first Liverpool manager or head coach to win on their debut trip to Old Trafford, beating Manchester United 3-0 on 1 September, Chelsea’s visit to Anfield in late October was billed by some as his team's first big test of the season.
Chelsea were sixth in the Premier League table at the time but beginning to gel under head coach Enzo Maresca, having won five of their previous seven unbeaten games in all competitions before facing Liverpool.
The visitors gave the leaders a thorough examination and, reflecting on the match almost two months later when Chelsea had climbed to second place, Slot said: "It was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us."
Regardless, Liverpool still emerged victorious that day, triumphing 2-1 thanks to Salah's first-half penalty and a 51st-minute winner from man-of-the-match Curtis Jones, in an encouraging show of their ability to secure three points when second best.
Watch highlights of Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
Hard-earned draw at Arsenal
A week after the Chelsea match, Liverpool travelled to Arsenal for their first meeting with the side who would emerge as their main title rivals.
Given Arsenal had finished runners-up in the previous two Premier League seasons, this trip to Emirates Stadium represented a good barometer of Liverpool’s title credentials.
Again, Slot's men showed the doggedness to go with their quality.
Twice they trailed, but twice they clawed their way back into the game through equalisers from Van Dijk and, in the 81st minute, Salah to prevent injury and suspension-hit Arsenal inflicting what may have been a confidence-denting defeat.
Asked if the result was proof Liverpool were title contenders, Slot said: "To see that we can compete with such a strong Arsenal team in their stadium, that is very pleasing to see. But what it exactly will lead towards in the end of the season, I cannot tell you yet."
Watch highlights of Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
Comeback kings in November and December
Before the turn of the year, Liverpool were forced to show their ability to grind out results again, with three in particular proving pivotal.
At the start of November, Brighton & Hove Albion had chances to establish an unassailable first-half lead after going 1-0 up at Anfield but failed to take them. Instead, two goals from Cody Gakpo and Salah in three second-half minutes secured a 2-1 Liverpool win.
The importance of the comeback was underlined by defeats on the same day for Arsenal at Newcastle United and Man City at AFC Bournemouth which enabled Liverpool to regain top spot, where they have remained ever since.
Three weeks later, there was brief hope for their rivals again when Liverpool trailed 2-1 at Southampton, only for Salah to score a second-half double that earned Slot’s side a 3-2 win that took them eight points clear at the top.
Liverpool then needed Gakpo and Diogo Jota equalisers to rescue a point from a 2-2 home draw against Fulham in mid-December.
It was a creditable result in the circumstances, given they played with 10 men for most of the match following Andy Robertson’s 17th-minute dismissal. Arsenal dropping points in a goalless home draw against Everton and Man City losing at home to Man Utd the following day helped limit the damage too.
December also contained a significant 2-0 home win over Man City and that crazy 6-3 victory at Spurs in one of the games of the season.
Nunez's late double at Brentford
Liverpool hit a bit of a sticky patch by their standards at the start of 2025, winning just one of their first four matches in all competitions - and that was at home to a League Two club, Accrington Stanley, in the FA Cup third round.
That left Slot warning his players "we must not get [into] a habit of not getting what we deserved," after they were held to a second successive Premier League draw in January, during that four-game run, at Nottingham Forest.
History looked set to repeat itself when Liverpool dominated their match at Brentford but failed to find a breakthrough despite peppering the hosts' goal.
But their persistence paid off when second-half substitute Darwin Nunez scored two stoppage-time goals to earn Liverpool a priceless and deserved win from a match in which they had 37 shots, their joint-highest on record in a Premier League game.
Watch Nunez's second goal at Brentford
The last-gasp nature of their victory made this yet another result to chip away at the fading belief of the chasing pack.
When second-placed Arsenal blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against Aston Villa a few hours later, a result that left them six points behind the leaders, it strengthened the sense that 2024/25 would be Liverpool’s season.
Five crucial games in 15 days
Liverpool entered February still in all four competitions, but a shock 1-0 defeat at Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup fourth round soon whittled that down to three.
Slot rested his big guns for that game, in a clear sign of where his priorities were. Following the Plymouth loss, Liverpool faced a defining run of matches in their pursuit of one of those main targets - the Premier League trophy.
The 2-2 draw in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park was a setback as James Tarkowski’s equaliser for Everton did not arrive until the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time. Liverpool then had to hold off a second-half fight back to edge out Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1.
The final three matches of the run had genuine potential to significantly change the title picture, with Liverpool facing trips to Villa and Man City before hosting Newcastle.
But Liverpool earned a point at Villa Park, totally outplayed Man City in a statement 2-0 win, the day after Arsenal lost at home to West Ham United, before comfortably overcoming Newcastle 2-0 on the same night the Gunners drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest.
What looked like being a chance for Arsenal to make up ground in the title race ended up being a period during which Liverpool extended their lead from six points before the Everton match to 13 points after the Newcastle game, leaving the big prize in sight.
Van Dijk’s winner v West Ham
In terms of the destination of the Premier League title, the writing had been on the wall for some time, though a mini-wobble in March showed Liverpool were not totally infallible.
And had nearest challengers Arsenal been closer to Liverpool in the Premier League table, the nerves might have really started to jangle in the red half of Merseyside.
In a four-match period, Liverpool were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, lost the EFL Cup final to Newcastle and also suffered only their second league defeat of the season, at Fulham.
Slot's side then hosted West Ham and had Luis Diaz’s opener cancelled out by a Robertson own goal in the 86th minute, following a mix-up with Van Dijk. This left them on course for another disappointing result that would have invited a few more questions.
But Van Dijk made amends three minutes later as Liverpool produced the sort of stirring, match-winning response that champions do, to leave themselves on the brink of winning the Premier League.
