2024/25 Season

[Slinky Skills]

****ing hell, the negativity in here. Honestly get a ****ing grip lads, we're top of the league ffs. Yes no one expected it but we're bloody there and we will absolutely 100% be there at the end as well you can guarantee it. Just back the team, stop being a bunch of miserable defeatist cunts and support the team.

[DerKrampus]

****ing hell, the negativity in here. Honestly get a ****ing grip lads, we're top of the league ffs. Yes no one expected it but we're bloody there and we will absolutely 100% be there at the end as well you can guarantee it. Just back the team, stop being a bunch of miserable defeatist cunts and support the team.

[Sus]

Feels a bit fate tempting from The Athletic, but sharing this article anyway

Will Liverpool win this Premier League title – and, if so, when? Our experts’ views
The Athletic UK Staff
Jan 17, 2025

It is 76 days since Liverpool moved back to the top of the 2024-25 Premier League table with a 2-1 home win against Brighton & Hove Albion — a position they haven’t relinquished since.

Arne Slot’s side are not always showing imperious form but have still only been beaten once in their 20 league matches so far and have a four-point advantage over second-placed Arsenal, with a game in hand, going into the weekend’s fixtures.

So, are Liverpool destined to win just their second domestic championship in 35 years? And, if they are, at what point in the coming months will that triumph become all but nailed-on? We convened an expert panel — some with affiliations to the Anfield side, others to Liverpool’s biggest rivals — and sought their views.


Pep Guardiola has fried all of our brains.

He’s shattered a lot of English football’s illusions about its exceptionalism during his nine years as Manchester City manager. He’s affected the way pretty much every team in the country play. He’s changed what we all expect our full-backs to do. And our central defenders.

More immediately, he’s altered what we all think a title race looks like.

For the past few years – with one exception – the standard for anyone hoping to win the Premier League has been, as Jurgen Klopp once put it, perfection. Even to be close to that meant getting more than 90 points from the available 114. Actually claiming the crown usually required more: 93, or 98, or 100.

This season is different. A total of 85 will probably do it, maybe even 82. That means our reactions to individual results are out of kilter: in a campaign when City do nothing but win, drawing once at home can be fatal; in one where there’s more leeway for their rivals, the damage is limited.

Liverpool’s current league position, of course, makes them favourites, even if that game they have in hand is the last league derby at Goodison Park — hardly a gimme. But there is little to suggest the four-point advantage Arne Slot’s team currently hold over Arsenal is likely to be decisive. This is not the sort of season where a lead, once obtained, will not be surrendered.

Liverpool’s schedule, from here on in, is more challenging than Arsenal’s; it’s not unimaginable that they might draw three more games than Mikel Arteta’s side over the next four months.

Arsenal do not have a massive margin for error but I’d only be relatively confident that the twists and turns had ended if Liverpool came out of their game against them at Anfield, on the second weekend in May, with a three-point lead. And a superior goal difference, just to be safe.
Rory Smith


Call it a hard-bitten Evertonian self-defence mechanism, but I live with a chronic condition which presents as a persistent, underlying premonition of major Liverpool success. For example: they could be 18th in the 20-team Premier League table, managerless and riddled with injuries, and my nervous system would be preparing for an unlikely cup win and surge to a top-four finish.

So I’ve been tingling with the feeling that the 2024-25 title is coming to Anfield ever since they beat Real Madrid (in the Champions League) and Manchester City back-to-back in the space of five days as November became December.

A small part of me still just can’t rule out some astonishing City revival where they win every game between now and the end of the campaign in late May, as Liverpool drop points due to lingering defensive issues. Or that Arsenal will sign a decent goalscorer before this winter transfer window closes in a couple of weeks and really make it a contest.

But it would still be infinitely more likely that Liverpool will find another gear and triumph comfortably.

As it stands, I think it will only be after they have come through successive games against Chelsea and Arsenal in early May that I will completely make my peace with the forthcoming months of endless coverage, parades, plays, poems, films, statues and royal decrees that will accompany their record-equalling 20th top-flight championship.
Greg O’Keeffe


If you’re a fan of a rival club — Manchester United, say — there is often a point in a season where you have to make peace with the idea the “Bad Thing” might happen, and you start steeling yourself for when friends in the group chat/at five-a-side start gloating more.

For me, that arrived after Liverpool’s trio of fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and West Ham United either side of Christmas. It wasn’t just that Liverpool were good. It wasn’t just that Manchester City and Arsenal were wobbling. It’s that Arne Slot found enough tactical solutions for the problems the Premier League throws at you.

Left-back is an issue for this team, Darwin Nunez’s pace doesn’t quite compensate for the speed of his decision-making, Alisson is not quite the force he used to be in goal. Alexis Mac Allister – understandably – can look a little leggy when he returns from long-haul international duty in South America with Argentina. Yet Slot keeps tinkering and tweaking while reminding his players at half-time that hard running is not an optional requirement to winning games.

Liverpool’s 2019-20 title triumph saw a Jurgen Klopp-managed side beat Leicester City 4-0 away on December 26 (it might have been Naby Keita’s last good game for the club) and stamp their authority on the rest of the league. This season’s 3-1 win over them at Anfield on that date wasn’t quite the same (if only because Leicester were a lot stronger five years ago), but there is a similar sense that when Slot’s side switch it on, nobody in England can compete.
Carl Anka


In 2019-20, there were two games around this point in the season that made Jurgen Klopp’s side winning the title feel like an inevitability: the 4-0 away victory against Leicester City on Boxing Day and beating Manchester United 2-0 at Anfield on January 19. The latter was their 21st league win from the season’s first 22 matches. Absurd.

I haven’t experienced that feeling yet this season. It is a funny time to pose this question due to the current wobble Arne Slot’s team is having. Had I been asked this question after the victories over Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester and West Ham United before and after Christmas, I would be more positive. But two draws since to make it three wins in seven league games doesn’t scream title-winning form, although they haven’t lost any of those matches.

As a pessimist when it comes to this type of thing, my realistic answer is: only when it is mathematically impossible for them to be caught, or Virgil van Dijk is actually lifting the trophy.

However, I would love that 2019-20-esque moment to come in a Merseyside derby – ideally the next one, at Goodison Park on February 12, but more likely when Everton go to Anfield in the first week of April. Those games are so crucial to momentum, positive or negative.

Failing that, a positive result at home against Arsenal on the weekend of May 10-11 will probably be the key moment where I’ll believe it is happening.
Andy Jones

Over Liverpool’s last seven Premier League matches, they have dropped points in four. That doesn’t look or sound to me like an unstoppable procession to the title. They’re the favourites to win it from here, sure — but I’m not yet convinced.

The issue, of course, is that their most plausible challengers, Arsenal, have a similar propensity to drop points — and a significant gap to overhaul. They’re also without arguably their best player for a while yet with Bukayo Saka having recently undergone surgery for a torn hamstring — and that blow to their attack has been compounded by an ACL knee injury for Gabriel Jesus last weekend.

Much could depend on how much, if at all, Arsenal strengthen before the winter transfer window closes on February 3.

I feel that Liverpool and Arsenal — and Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle, and Chelsea — will continue to drop points here and there. It will be interesting to see if Manchester City can pick up enough points to close the gap and apply some pressure.

Liverpool host Arsenal on the second weekend in May. Arsenal’s mission for the next four months is to make that game matter — and I think there’s every chance they can.

Only if Liverpool win that one, to give themselves a commanding lead with a couple of weeks of the season to go, will I see them as champions-elect.
James McNicholas


Ever since Steven Pienaar of Everton slid in to secure a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford in April 2012, I’ve always made a point of holding onto hope in a title race.

Pienaar’s 85th-minute equaliser in a match Manchester United had led 3-1 after 66 minutes was a goal that helped Manchester City to make up an eight-point deficit with just six games to go and one of those incredible occasions where the desperate mental gymnastics — ‘They just need to lose at Wigan, drop points at home to Everton, and we’ll beat them at the Etihad’ — perfectly checked out.

But even my optimism can only stretch so far.


City are out of this race, Christian Norgaard’s stoppage-time header to deny them a 2-1 win at Brentford on Tuesday the latest reminder that the reigning champions are far too flaky to make up what is currently a 12-point gap.

That realistically leaves Arsenal, who I just can’t see reeling Liverpool back in with their inconsistency in front of goal and injury disruptions to their right-hand side.

Arsenal have to go to Anfield in the season’s third-last round of fixtures, and unless they are practically faultless from now until then, it looks like being the fixture that could allow the current leaders to ease their way to glory.
Thom Harris


When you’re writing about something that may arrive in the future, there’s an understandable caution, a fear that you’ll be made to look ridiculous should your prediction turn out to be nonsense.

But even with that in mind, I’m pretty confident about this one: I won’t predict a point between now and the end of the season on May 25 when it will be clear Liverpool have the title in the bag — because I think it’s already in there.

If we’re picking a point when I became sure, it was probably not a single game, but that first week in December, when they beat Manchester City with relative ease, something that came not long before Arsenal drew with Fulham and then Everton.

The certainty is less about Liverpool, an excellent if not historically brilliant team, but more that I just don’t trust any of the chasing pack to be consistent enough to catch them. City are going through some stuff, Arsenal aren’t ruthless enough, Chelsea are wobbling, teams will figure out how to beat Nottingham Forest soon enough, Newcastle are the form team now but are an Alexander Isak injury away from trouble.

Liverpool will end as the last team standing, the best of a Premier League season in which the overall quality has evened out, without one single behemoth overshadowing the rest.
Nick Miller

It seems to me that only supporters of other clubs are certain that the 2024-25 title will arrive at Anfield.

If it doesn’t, it conveniently gives them the chance to say Liverpool choked. You build them up, you knock them down.

Like a lot of Liverpudlians, I am reasonably confident the season will end in championship success for Arne Slot’s team. Yet there is also caution due to recent memories, as well as longer ones. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool led the way three times at this stage of a season but only once were they in the same position when the music stopped after 38 games.

Further back, the promise of teams led by Roy Evans, Rafael Benitez and Brendan Rodgers was marked in springtime before hopes faded on the run-in.

It is for these reasons that I will only be certain about the possibilities relating to Slot’s Liverpool when those currently chasing can no longer catch them.
Simon Hughes

[Bloodraven]

AI summary

Liverpool currently lead the 2024-25 Premier League by four points, having remained at the top since their 2-1 win against Brighton in early November. Experts have mixed opinions on whether they will secure the title, with many agreeing that Liverpool are favourites, but cautioning that there are still uncertainties due to inconsistent form from both Liverpool and their rivals, particularly Arsenal and Manchester City.

Some believe Liverpool’s consistency and tactical improvements under Arne Slot make them likely champions, though there are concerns over their defensive issues and the challenges posed by upcoming fixtures. A key moment could be their match against Arsenal in May, which might determine whether Liverpool can maintain their lead.

Others remain more cautious, suggesting that it won’t feel like a certainty until the title is mathematically secured, with notable reference to past seasons when Liverpool led but failed to clinch the title. While some experts are convinced Liverpool will win, the general consensus is that it will take a few more months before anyone can confidently declare them champions.

[Doc_Piptorious]

If the form continues with us and Arsenal from either the last 5 or 10 games, they win the league, so we need to get out of this slump and put a run together.

Their form over the past ten games is a current league best of an average of 2.4 points per game.

We sit second best in league over the past ten games with an average of 2.2 points per game.

So they are averaging 0.2 points per game more than us and they have 17 games left to our 18 games, with us being 4 points ahead of them at present.

So if we both kept the same form for the rest of the season, we would win the title.

Our "slump" in the league consists mostly of the past five games from which we have three wins and two draws, the draws being against Man U (a game that can go in any direction regardless of the form of either team) and against Forest who are one of the toughest teams in the league to break down.

[S-RED]

THe game again st them three from the end of the season will define who wins the league IMO

[rudedog]

THe game again st them three from the end of the season will define who wins the league IMO

I think we will have won the title before that. Arsenal aren’t great and will drop more points.

[vlahka]

People keep saying arsenal will drop points, they arent our worry etcetc. Meanwhile they're right behind us. People call out anyone saying we are going to have issues if we dont change certain things as defeatists etc. Its not though when you point out a recurring pattern. We've been first at this time and lost the league more times than we've won it in the last few decades. Just as recent as last season when we were being told not to be so negative. But its not negative if you point out what could happen if the team doesnt do certain things like strengthen in january. You dont do that, 9 times out of 10 we've lost the league. Another thing to do if we dont strengthen is NOT play robo and trent. We've lost more points because of those two than any other reason. Get them out, maybe strengthen, we will win the league. Do neither? I'm expecting a second or third spot finish. I dont see that as negative. I see that as pointing out what keeps happening.

[frank the tank]

My fear is that arsenal will be able to concentrate on just the league and the champions league soon......and I wouldn't be surprised if they got knocked out of the champions league in the first knock out round.

We will probably go deep in all competitions to the possible detriment of the biggest prizes. We are Liverpool fc so should go into every game aiming to win, but if the prize for beating spurs in the semi final of the carabao and then for us to go and play either Newcastle or Arsenal (tough final, possibly go to ET) also results us in dropping points in games around these fixtures, then it's possibly not worth it. Had we beaten United and Forest......and either Fulham or Newcastle in the league before that, then the bigger cushion would allow us to concentrate more on the cups.

I think Arsenal will have simplicity pretty soon in just league fixtures to focus on.

[rudedog]

I just don’t understand the negativity while we are still 4 points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. It’s not like being negative on a forum is going to make any difference other than just brining the mood down.

It was only a few weeks ago the doom mongers were saying that Chelsea were our biggest threat and were going to win the league

[frank the tank]

Agree it is a good position but the failure to beat Newcastle having led, Fulham, Man United and Forest in our last 7 or 8 fixtures has been a worry. Considering how we were cooking on gas in October and November

[fidget]

I just don’t understand the negativity while we are still 4 points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. It’s not like being negative on a forum is going to make any difference other than just brining the mood down.

It was only a few weeks ago the doom mongers were saying that Chelsea were our biggest threat and were going to win the league

Exactly - buzzing my head off about the season so far.
My only concern is the usual lack of activity in the window. We're a couple of injuries away from having a defensive crisis.

[Buzzo]

I just don’t understand the negativity while we are still 4 points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. It’s not like being negative on a forum is going to make any difference other than just brining the mood down.

It was only a few weeks ago the doom mongers were saying that Chelsea were our biggest threat and were going to win the league

Yeah that’s where I am with things also.

[The_weatherman]

I just don’t understand the negativity while we are still 4 points ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand. It’s not like being negative on a forum is going to make any difference other than just brining the mood down.

It was only a few weeks ago the doom mongers were saying that Chelsea were our biggest threat and were going to win the league

Ah, but is it negativity? I´m pleased the players and Slot have gotten us this far, but the squad as glaring holes we could address right now and increase our chances of a title and a good CL run.

We need a striker, Jota is out again, we need a left back, and central defender and preferably another central midfielder Slot can trust, not asking for all positions in January, but surely we can do something?

[Doc_Piptorious]

Ah, but is it negativity? I´m pleased the players and Slot have gotten us this far, but the squad as glaring holes we could address right now and increase our chances of a title and a good CL run.

We need a striker, Jota is out again, we need a left back, and central defender and preferably another central midfielder Slot can trust, not asking for all positions in January, but surely we can do something?

Maybe we have asked about players but got no permission from their clubs to go further?


And yes there are lots of players out there but how far down your list of choices do you go before it becomes bringing a body in for the sake of it? second choice? Third choice?


Looking at it from a supporter's pov it is simple stuff and just a matter of saying get X and then get Y, and all is good. The reality is very different.


That said, it has not stopped me compiling my own mini list that I would love for us to get some from.


Time for Dickie Hughes to head to Lille, Ajax, Feyenoord, Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves and see if he can get me two or three players