When Liverpool was crowned Premier League champions in 2020, the relief was immeasurable. Finally, after 30 years it was over: the Reds were kings of England once again.
To some, that wait has stretched into 35 years given supporters were not granted access to games due to the Covid-19 restrictions that were in place at the time. 35 years… that’s half a lifetime.
It will likely come to an end on Sunday with a win (or a draw) over a lackluster, meek Tottenham Hotspur side. Should Ange Postecolglou’s side spoil the party – as he has threatened to – it will be one of the upsets of the season so far.
But that would only be stalling the inevitable; in all likelihood Liverpool could lose all of its five matches and still be crowned champions. That 35-year wait is coming to an end. As is a much shorter stretch of years without a title. Five years may not feel like an eternity, but most thinking back to life circumstances in 2020 would find they’re wildly different to today – and that’s without thinking about Covid.
When Jordan Henderson’s heavily sanitized hands thrust the Premier League trophy above his head at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were rightly considered among the world’s best sides. Perhaps the very best.
It was still the reigning European and world champion and posted 97 and 99-point campaigns in successive seasons. They were staggering numbers. The Reds, understandably, began the following term as many people’s favorites for the title. Yet they fell away spectacularly, finishing 17 points off the irreplaceable Manchester City.
(Image: Laurence Griffiths/NMC Pool/PA Wire.)
It was a dismissal defense of the title. The disappointing campaign included the remarkable run of six consecutive home league defeats, being obliterated by City at Anfield, swotted aside by Real Madrid in the Champions League as the club rotated through its various cast of defenders, including: Ozan Kabak, Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips.
Injuries were mainly blamed for that season, plus the absence of a home crowd. That the Reds responded the following year with a 92-point campaign and came within a whisker of winning an unprecedented quadruple was evidence that 2020/21 was very much a blip. But final-day heartache again to City and more Champions League agony at the hands of Real in Paris meant the end-of-season trophy parade felt somewhat underwhelming.
Klopp’s final two seasons also failed to hit the heights. A fifth-place finish in 2022/23 indicated this was the end of the German’s great side and that a rebuild was needed – something Arne Slot is very much benefiting from now. It meant that a team widely considered among the world’s best three years ago would have to settle for the second tier of European competition.
Last season did have the high of a Carabao Cup win, but again Liverpool came up short in the Premier League’s final furlongs, again piped by the sky-blue bulldozers from Manchester. That Klopp’s final campaign ended so feebly was devastating for sections of the fanbase. There was a growing sense that when it came to the big prizes, Liverpool, under its more stringent FSG ownership model would never be able to compete for the biggest prizes. Discussion in the mainstream media turned to whether City’s title win was “inevitable”.
(Image: Getty Images)
And ultimately, despite an average campaign for long spells, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland just pushed City over the line when it mattered. That fans had to contemplate whether they wanted a fourth consecutive title for the Blues or Mikel Arteta to take Klopp’s record as the only manager to really stop Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut was a harsh reality.
At that stage, City openly spoke about how Arsenal was now its biggest challengers. Few gave the new Liverpool luminaries, appointed last summer, much chance of immediately competing. None of the 30 BBC pundits predicted a Liverpool title win in Slot’s first season, nor any of the 40 Sky Sports experts. It’s a reminder of how low expectations had dipped before this campaign.
Slot himself acknowledges that he didn’t expect to really win the Premier League in his maiden campaign, but here we are. After five years, Liverpool is once again on the brink of claiming a serious prize once again.
City is languishing, Arsenal has imploded, Chelsea and Manchester United are almost irrelevant at this stage, while Liverpool has serenely marched towards the biggest honor. That status quo won’t last forever, but Liverpool has reestablished itself as an elite club again, banishing its inner demons in the process. That should not be overlooked.
So to Anfield then, which should roar with red redemption. Tears, chants, fireworks, a few beers – expect the lot. It’s been a long five years getting back to the summit.
