Sports
Imperious Liverpool Clinch 2024/25 EPL Title After Thumping Tottenham 5-1
Liverpool made easy work of Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday to clinch a first title since 2020 and only their second in 35 years.
The Reds, 15 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with four games left, are now level with bitter rivals Manchester United as the joint most successful club in English top-flight history.
The Reds’ last title, five years ago, was slightly anticlimactic as it came during the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning Anfield was nearly empty when the trophy was presented due to restrictions.
Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool’s coronation, setting off flares in the warm spring sunshine as the home team bus arrived.
Slot’s men started on the front foot at an expectant Anfield after a stirring rendition of club anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in the warm spring sunshine.
Mohamed Salah had an early sighter and Cody Gakpo went close with a spectacular overhead kick but Tottenham briefly threatened to become party poopers when Dominic Solanke powered home a header from a James Maddison corner in the 12th minute.
But Liverpool were level just four minutes later when Luis Diaz converted Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross from close range. The offside flag went up but VAR awarded the goal.
The momentum was now all with Liverpool and the home side took the lead in the 24th minute when Alexis Mac Allister thundered the ball home from the 18-yard line past the flying Guglielmo Vicario.
Now the party was well and truly started and Gakpo made it 3-1, slamming a shot into the bottom corner after Spurs failed to clear.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou had made eight changes from the team that lost to Nottingham Forest last week as he prioritises the semi-finals of the Europa League and they now had a mountain to climb.
The Liverpool fans — deprived of celebrating the 2020 Premier League trophy due to Covid restrictions, ran through their full repertoire of songs as their team pushed for a fourth goal in the second half.
– Salah selfie –
Top-scorer Salah scored the goal the crowd craved, collecting Szoboszlai’s pass before cutting in and blasting his shot into the bottom corner.
He celebrated by grabbing a fan’s phone before taking a selfie in front of the Kop.
Deafening cheers of “We’re going to win the league” and “We shall not be moved” rang out.
Liverpool had a fifth when Spurs defender Destiny Udogie poked the ball past his own goalkeeper from close range with about 20 minutes to go as the game turned into a procession.
As the game went into added time the club’s anthem rang out again as scarves were held aloft and the final whistle elicited a thunderous roar.
The win leaves Liverpool on 82 points, 15 clear of nearest challengers Arsenal with just four games remaining.
Tottenham are a miserable 16th in the Premier League table after their 19th defeat of the season, putting Postecoglou under enormous pressure.
Tens of thousands of fans swarmed around Anfield in the build-up to kick-off in anticipation of Liverpool’s coronation, setting off flares as the home team bus arrived.
Flags and scarves saying “Liverpool 20-time Champions” were on sale from stalls outside the ground.
At the start of the campaign, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were favourites to extend their dynastic Premier League reign and make it five titles in a row but their form collapsed.
Arsenal emerged as their closest challengers but they drew too many games, failing to take advantage of the rare Liverpool slip-ups.
It was feared Liverpool’s players would need time to adapt to the methods of Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp last June following the German’s departure after nine trophy-filled years at Anfield.
But the former Feyenoord boss has sailed serenely through the season despite relentless speculation over the futures of three of his biggest stars — Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Both Salah and Van Dijk have now signed two-year extensions, though England defender Alexander-Arnold is believed likely to be on the verge of a move to Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola has explained the reason for Manchester City’s resurgence as they push for the Premier League title.
The win lifts City to 64 points from 31 games, cutting the deficit to leaders Arsenal—who have 70 points from 32 matches—to just six points, ramping up the title race in the closing stages of the campaign.
Asked why Manchester City have been in such fine form in the final stages of the season, Pep Guardiola joked: “The sun! If it had been shining in November, we’d have been league champions by January… No, I’m joking, of course. In Manchester, the sun doesn’t shine very often.”
Looking ahead to next Sunday’s 32nd-round clash with Arsenal in the Premier League, he added: “That game will feel like a final for both teams, but there is a tactical detail we need to review, so we may make some adjustments.
“Everyone is talking about the Arsenal game, but matches against Brentford, Bournemouth and the other sides are just as important. The season is still long.”
Guardiola added “We’re in better shape, and in training everyone knows exactly what they have to do. We’ve faced three strong opponents, three Champions League teams. We didn’t put in a complete performance for the full 90 minutes, but we were organised enough, didn’t concede many chances, and our attacking threat was always there.”
Pep Guardiola
He added:One of our secrets as a club and a system is that, after one success after another, we have remained humble and have always asked ourselves: what must we do to stay at the top? Winning once or twice is normal, but to remain at the top for nine years—with the exception of last season—reflects the strength of the entire system.”
After trimming the gap to six points with a game in hand, Doku emphasized that City is confident, focused, and ready for the final.
“Obviously, three points here, in a tough game, we did very well. We needed those three points,” Doku told the club’s website.
“So we’re just going to keep on going, keep on going. We know that we still have everything in our hands. We’re going to recover well and we look forward to the game on Sunday.
“Coming here is not easy, playing here against Chelsea in their stadium is not easy. We just had to keep on going.
“We adapted our pressing a bit and more runs in behind, that opens more spaces. The way we started the second half also put a lot of pressure on them. In those moments when you can score it helps a lot.”
Real Madrid has stated that rumors on considering incorporating a sports director into its structure are categorically false.
According to Fabrizio Romano’s X post on Friday, the club was quoted as saying, “Real Madrid extraordinarily values the work that the club’s sports management has been carrying out, which has allowed us to live through one of the most successful periods in our entire history with the achievement of numerous titles, including 6 European Cups in ten years.”
It strongly reaffirm confidence in its current sporting management structure.
It also praise the existing leadership, crediting it for one of the most successful eras in the club’s history.
As evidence, they point to major achievements, including six UEFA Champions League titles in the last decade.
Overall, it’s a standard club statement aimed at shutting down speculation while reinforcing trust in their current internal setup.
Madrid have long operated with a distinct organisational model, where key transfer and sporting decisions are primarily overseen by senior executives and trusted football leadership rather than a traditional sporting director structure common in many European clubs.
The club’s denial comes amid continued speculation in Spanish football media about potential internal changes, particularly as elite clubs across Europe increasingly adopt centralized sporting director systems to streamline recruitment and long-term squad planning.
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