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.
