Tag: liverpool

Liverpool will host a victory parade on the May 26 Bank Holiday after clinching their 20th top-flight title with victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, the club have announced.

Fans were deprived of a public celebration the last time the Merseyside club won the Premier League in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. That success was Liverpool’s first top-flight triumph in 30 years.

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Arne Slot’s side secured the title on Sunday with a 5-1 thrashing of Spurs in a party atmosphere at Anfield that gave them a 15-point lead over second-placed Arsenal with four games remaining.

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The 15-km parade will begin at 14:30 local time (1330 GMT) and is expected to last three to five hours.

“A Liverpool victory parade is more than football – it’s a celebration of our city’s pride, passion and community spirit,” Leader of Liverpool City Council, Liam Robinson, said in a statement.

“A huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes in preparation for an event of this size and scale, and there has already been months of careful planning taking place as the Team Liverpool approach – which we saw work so well throughout Eurovision – comes to the fore again.”

Liverpool hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

Twenty four hours after Juergen Klopp’s emotional Liverpool farewell, Arne Slot was handed the seemingly impossible mission of trying to fill the void left by the charismatic Kop idol.

Klopp’s high-octane football and his passion for the city, not to mention the seven major trophies he delivered in his nine years on Merseyside, including the Champions League and a first English title for 30 years, elevated him alongside the likes of club icons Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.

Slot would have been only too aware that succeeding serial trophy winners at England’s biggest clubs can be a poisoned chalice, just ask David Moyes who began the post-Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United or Unai Emery, the man who replaced Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Neither lasted long.

But Slot has made the transition look like a Sunday morning stroll in Stanley Park.

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Tasked with turning what had been a two-horse race for the past two seasons between Manchester City and Arsenal into a three-horse race, expectations of the relatively under-the-radar Slot from those outside the club were low.

When BBC Sport’s army of pundits were asked before the season which club would win the league, none of the 30 responders opted for Liverpool.

Yet any doubts about Liverpool’s decision to recruit Slot from Feyenoord were erased in the season’s opening weeks.

With Klopp’s squad, barring the signing of Federico Chiesa who has hardly featured, Slot won eight of his first 10 Premier League games in charge — the best start by a new manager in Liverpool’s history.

Helped by City’s drastic decline in form and Arsenal’s levelling off, a clinical Liverpool have been top of the table for all but one week since Sept. 28, losing only two games.

One criticism that could be levelled at Slot is an FA Cup exit at the hands of second-tier Plymouth Argyle and a disappointing League Cup final loss to Newcastle United.

They also lost to Paris St Germain on penalties in an enthralling Champions League last-16 tie, but delivering a 20th English title to match the record held for so long by arch-rivals Manchester United is what the fans desired most and means Slot now joins an elite club.

Only five managers have won the Premier League in their debut season in English football — the others being Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea).

Those being churlish may hark back to the Klopp era and suggest that Slot’s disciplined side lack the same style, flair and ability to create glorious chaos on the field.

Not that Slot would care too much about that and the fact that Liverpool have registered two or more goals in all but five of their 34 league games and top the scoring charts makes a mockery of accusations they have been dull to watch.

Crucially, after inheriting a squad full of world class players, Slot’s quiet self-confidence meant he could resist any temptation to re-invent the wheel, instead calmly going about putting his own stamp on Klopp’s blueprint.

“He hasn’t tried to impersonate Klopp in any way,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said when asked how Slot has made the transition so smooth this season.

“There has been a calmness about him, and the club. He didn’t think he needed to buy anybody. There’s been a lot of turmoil around other big clubs, but at Liverpool this season it always feels like they have been in control.”

Forward Mohamed Salah has thrived under Slot, given more licence to remain in dangerous areas and conserve energy in the knowledge that those in the engine room were working overtime.

Virgil van Dijk continues to be a colossus for Liverpool at the back, as does Alisson in goal.

New heroes have stepped out from the shadows under Slot too. Hungary’s all-round midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai runs himself into the ground week in, week out, while the emergence of holding midfielder Ryan Gravenberch as arguably Liverpool’s most influential player is testament to Slot’s man management skills.

While Liverpool have cruised to the title this season, Slot will be fully aware that standing still is not an option and while the fact that Salah and Van Dijk have agreed new contracts is a huge boost, squad strengthening will need to happen.

“There is a big job to be done in the summer. He will really put his imprint on this team next season,” Carragher said.

Liverpool sealed their second Premier League title on Sunday after taking an unassailable 15-point lead with four games to spare. The following are the players who were key to their title charge in Arne Slot’s debut season:

MOHAMED SALAH:  As another season comes to a close, Mohamed Salah is on the verge of joining Premier League great Thierry Henry as the only player to win four Golden Boot awards for most goals scored in a campaign, with the Egyptian currently on 28 strikes.

The 32-year-old has been so far ahead of the competition that he could still get his hands on the trophy without scoring again.

In a stellar campaign, where his contract negotiations often stole the headlines, Salah justified his two-year extension by putting up exceptional numbers.

He has been directly involved in 46 Premier League goals this term (which includes 18 assists) – a record for a player in a 38-game season – and he could even breach the 50-mark before the campaign wraps up. Individual numbers aside, Salah is also revelling in making the players around him much better in a season of reinvention under Slot.

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DOMINIK SZOBOSZLAI: Liverpool had to rebuild their entire midfield after their last title-winning season and Dominik Szoboszlai has become the team’s new engine in the middle of the park driving them on with his immense work rate.

With the energy to cover a lot of ground off the ball, Szoboszlai routinely runs over 11 kilometres a game and is the key man in Liverpool’s midfield press to win the ball back or force turnovers. Slot also challenged Szoboszlai to improve his output in the final third and the Hungary captain responded, most notably assisting Salah and scoring another in a 2-0 win at Manchester City that gave them a psychological edge in the title race.

“Last year I was playing as an eight and more as a defensive part of the game than offensively. This time I am a little bit more offensive than defensive, and I’m still doing the work for the defence part,” Szoboszlai said.

“He (Slot) changed my game a lot and I improved a lot under him.”

RYAN GRAVENBERCH: For a player who struggled to break into the starting lineup last season under Juergen Klopp, Ryan Gravenberch is now one of the first names on the team sheet under Slot.

The Dutch manager has utilised the 22-year-old’s versatility to shield his back line and play in his midfield double-pivot while his ability to quickly initiate attacks with his trademark turn has not gone unnoticed.

Gravenberch has a superb knack for reading opponents’ intentions and cutting out passing lanes, putting him among the leading players in the league for interceptions, while he is also adept at winning back possession.

No wonder then that he has been one of three Liverpool players to start every game this season.

VIRGIL VAN DIJK: Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk is the one outfield player to have played every minute in 34 Premier League games, an ever-present colossus in the defence despite his own issues with contract negotiations with the club.

Van Dijk will be 34 in the close season but the Dutchman has shown no signs of slowing down, producing consistently superb performances even though his Liverpool future was in doubt, convincing the club to give him two more years.

No player has completed more passes while he is one of five players to make at least 50 interceptions this season.

But more than just the numbers, he has marshalled the back-line as Liverpool sealed the title with the second-best defensive record in the league.

Liverpool did not make things easy in their 2-1 win over West Ham United but the players showed exceptional mentality to bounce back from a late equaliser to seal the three points, manager Arne Slot said as they inched closer to the title.

After Luis Diaz had opened the scoring, West Ham grew into the game and grabbed an equaliser in the 86th minute from an Andy Robertson own goal before skipper Virgil van Dijk powered home a header three minutes later.

With a 13-point lead over second-placed Arsenal, Liverpool need just two wins from their last six games to win a second Premier League title and a first trophy under Slot having lost the League Cup final last month.

“That is what we’ve done the whole season. After the disappointment of being knocked out by PSG (in the Champions League), we show up again, show up every three days, with this mentality,” Slot told Sky Sports.

“We don’t win games the easy way. The easy way is taking control of the ball, pass it around five times and we have a goal and the next goal and the next goal.

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“If we achieve something this year, it’s mainly to do with the mentality the players have shown. That’s what you saw today as well.”

Liverpool have lost only two league games this season, with their second defeat coming last weekend at Fulham.

Slot said he was worried they would drop points again when West Ham grew into the game in the second half and hailed goalkeeper Alisson for keeping Liverpool in the contest with some crucial saves.

“Very difficult second half, we needed Alisson because (Lucas) Paqueta and (Mohammed) Kudus were incredible the whole game,” Slot said.

“Then we conceded… with an own goal. How much more disappointment can you get after what happened last week? Getting the goal with Virgil shows you how much mentality these boys have.

“It’s not only us. I saw the result when I came in, Chelsea v Ipswich, 2-2. There’s no one who wins a game of football that easily because this league is so strong now. You have to put so much effort to bring your wins over the line.”

Liverpool continued their march towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over Everton in a scrappy Merseyside derby as Diogo Jota slotted home the winner in the second half ,

The champions elect restored their 12-point lead over second-placed Arsenal while Everton, whose nine-game league unbeaten ended, are 15^th  on 34 points.

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Everton’s Beto had a goal chalked off for offside and missed a sitter before Jota broke the deadlock in the 57^th  minute with his first goal in two-and-a-half months. Luis Diaz back-heeled the ball into Jota’s path and the Portuguese forward beat a tackle before firing into the net.

Liverpool fans thought Everton should have been reduced to 10 men after 11 minutes following a fierce tackle by defender James Tarkowski on Alexis Mac Allister, but Everton’s captain was only shown a yellow card.

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Liverpool’s march towards the Premier League title could culminate with a win over closest rivals Arsenal at Anfield on May 10 in the most tantalising of the possible scenarios.

Arne Slot’s men climbed 13 points clear at the top with their 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on Wednesday, and statisticians Opta have made Liverpool champions-elect with a 98.7% chance of winning the league, with Arsenal at 1.3%.

No team have been so far ahead at this stage of the season and not won the title going back to the beginning of English top-flight football in 1888-89.

Slot, however, does not dare get ahead of himself, saying after Wednesday’s win: “It is still a long way to go, 10 games. In March we only play one Premier League game, so we are not focused on the long term.”

If Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sees the writing on the wall, he is not saying so, telling reporters before Wednesday’s scoreless draw with Nottingham Forest that he would concede the title “over my dead body.”

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Liverpool could have locked up the title sooner but, as Slot mentioned, because of the international break plus two Champions League last-16 games against Paris St Germain and the League Cup final versus Newcastle, they have only one league game in March.

Seven more wins would seal a second Premier League title for Slot’s team and their 20th in top-flight football overall. Six of their final 10 games are in their home cauldron of Anfield.

Other potential scenarios have Liverpool clinching the title on April 5 versus Fulham, but that would require them winning their next three matches and Arsenal, who have a game in hand, losing their next four.

Liverpool could also claim the crown at home to Tottenham Hotspur on April 26 or on May 3 at Chelsea.

They became the first team in Premier League history to clinch the title with seven games to go in 2019-20.

Manchester United (in 2000-01) and Manchester City (2017-18) did it with five games remaining.