Liverpool’s Premier League title win: Fifteen key moments you may have forgotten

Every season, title wins are decided by moments.

Liverpool’s ascent to becoming 2024-25 Premier League champions was more deliberate than dramatic, their path plotted with calculated precision by Arne Slot and his coaching staff, but there have been some big incidents along the way that have proved crucial.

Darwin Nunez’s stoppage-time double in a previously goalless game at Brentford in January felt pivotal, as did Virgil van Dijk’s 89th-minute winner against West Ham, who had just equalised at Anfield. Arsenal and Manchester City fans, of course, will point to the injuries that cost their teams Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Rodri for extended periods as crucial turning points.

But what about the less-celebrated moments? The Athletic has looked back at the season to pinpoint episodes you may have forgotten but which played their part in this title triumph.

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1. Konate comes off the bench at Ipswich

The half-time substitution of Jarell Quansah in Liverpool’s opening game of the Premier League season against promoted Ipswich Town was a statement from new head coach Slot that he was now the man in charge.

It laid down the gauntlet to his new team that underperformance — in this case team-wide rather than individual, although Quansah’s lack of success in winning duels was singled out by Jurgen Klopp’s successor — was unacceptable, and it paid off as Liverpool scored twice in the second half to seal a 2-0 victory.

But the key moment was actually Ibrahima Konate’s introduction from the bench to replace Quansah. The French defender had endured a difficult end to the previous campaign and then had a truncated pre-season after his run to July’s European Championship semi-finals with France.

Konate was one of the players Slot was tasked with improving when he took the Liverpool job.

His impact was key at Ipswich and he has not come close to losing his place in Slot’s first XI (when fit) since, forming a formidable partnership with captain Van Dijk.

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2. Slot’s post-match interview at Manchester United

Old Trafford was where Liverpool’s 2023-24 season began to fall apart, courtesy of a dramatic 4-3 defeat in an FA Cup tie that went to extra time, and then a 2-2 draw in the Premier League three weeks later. On both occasions, Liverpool had been the better team by a distance, but their inability to kill off either game by building a two-goal advantage cost them dearly.

That’s why there was a sense of trepidation approaching the same fixture in September. Liverpool were favourites again but they needed to play the opponent rather than the occasion. They did so to perfection, with Luis Diaz’s first-half brace proving decisive in a 3-0 win.

But of equal significance was Slot’s comprehensive breakdown of Manchester United’s tactics in a post-match interview on Sky Sports. It was precise, clear and — in its own understated way — utterly chastening for his United counterpart Erik ten Hag, who was sacked the following month.

How Arne Slot masterminded Liverpool’s win at Manchester United 👨‍🏫 pic.twitter.com/vFblmfvtzJ

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 2, 2024

It was the biggest indicator yet that Slot was the real deal and not fazed by the job he had inherited from Klopp.

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3. Beating Milan with set pieces

Throughout the season, Liverpool have had to demonstrate they can win games in different ways. After suffering a shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield in Slot’s fourth competitive match in charge, there was a hint of pressure as his side travelled to Italy to begin their Champions League campaign.

Any hopes of a quick reaction to the Forest loss went out of the window when Christian Pulisic fired Milan in front after three minutes, capitalising on Liverpool’s poor defensive shape.

This was a real test. How would this side react to a second dose of adversity in the space of four days?

The answer was impressive as Konate and Van Dijk both scored first-half headers from set pieces to get the visitors back on track. In doing so, it demonstrated a resilience that would carry them through to glory in the Premier League.

It was also a big moment for Slot and his first-team coach Aaron Briggs, who had assumed responsibility for set-piece coaching.

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4. Jaros’ Palace cameo

The sight of Alisson signalling to the bench and then sitting down on the ground in pain is one Liverpool supporters never want to see.

Yet after swinging his leg to clear a pass played back to him with 14 minutes remaining away against Crystal Palace in October, the Brazilian goalkeeper could not continue. And, to compound matters, Caoimhin Kelleher was already out injured.

Slot had to turn to 22-year-old Vitezslav Jaros, who had played a grand total of zero Premier League minutes. Liverpool were leading 1-0, but as the game entered its later stages it was on a knife-edge.

His big moment came when Palace launched a counter-attack in the final stages. The ball fell to Eberechi Eze and he was one-on-one with Jaros. The goalkeeper was out quickly to narrow the angle and, while the shot from the England midfielder was weak, Jaros did his job and helped preserve the clean sheet.

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5. Two equalisers against Arsenal

Imagine a world where Arsenal had beaten Manchester City in September and then Liverpool in October — how might that have changed things? We will never know, because equalisers in each game turned six points for Mikel Arteta and company into two.

City’s at the Etihad Stadium was more dramatic, with John Stones poking home in the 97th minute, breaking the defensive resistance of Arsenal, who had been reduced to 10 men before the interval.

Mohamed Salah’s equaliser at the Emirates Stadium was a bolt out of the blue, created by excellent passes from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez after Liverpool had struggled to create much in the second half.

Early-season matches against expected title contenders often don’t feel like they carry the same importance as when they take place in April. These two, however, now seem to be exceptions to that idea.

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6. Dias goes off injured at Spurs

The Ballon d’Or-bound Rodri’s season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury on September 22 was the most obvious injury problem that Pep Guardiola had to deal with, but his Manchester City remained unbeaten in all competitions until their Carabao Cup fourth round tie at Tottenham on October 30.

It was here where City’s problems began to snowball in their pursuit of a fifth straight title.

Nathan Ake was already playing through an injury and Manuel Akanji had been ruled out ahead of kick-off when Ruben Dias, one of Guardiola’s last remaining fit centre-halves, had to be replaced at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Dias later called it the “death sequence”, with City frequently having a couple of defenders out, and the others therefore being forced to overplay, resulting in them suffering their own injuries. Coupled with an ageing midfield unable to cope with the high pressing demands, and it was a recipe for disaster.

That Spurs game was the first in a run of four straight defeats for City, including Liverpool’s dominant 2-0 victory at Anfield. Quickly, the defending champions went from title contenders to being out of the race.

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7. Salah’s winner against Brighton

The date was November 2 and, in one sweeping move that ended with a thumping finish from Salah, Liverpool completed a comeback against Brighton that solidified their title credentials.

At half-time, the feeling was much different. Liverpool had been played off the park by Fabian Hurzeler’s side and were fortunate to only be 1-0 down.

Brighton were left to rue not making more of their dominance as the momentum shifted in the second half. It was one of the first occasions this season that the Anfield crowd seized a game and bent it to their will.

Cody Gakpo’s cross-cum-shot provided an equaliser on 70 minutes. Then, two minutes later, Salah cut inside on the edge of the area after receiving a pass from Curtis Jones and curled a shot past Bart Verbruggen. Cue bedlam — and the sense that belief was building.

The win put Liverpool top of the table, their advantage compounded by both City and Arsenal suffering defeat that same day. They have not been off the summit since.

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8. Saka’s offside goal at Fulham

With 87 minutes on the clock and Arsenal drawing 1-1 at Fulham in early December, a curled cross from Gabriel Martinelli found Bukayo Saka at the back post. The England international tapped home what he thought was the winner to spark exuberant celebrations.

Back on Merseyside, Slot and his players — whose game against Everton that weekend had been postponed because of a winter storm sweeping the area — must have been rueing the kind of moment that can change momentum in a club’s season.

But then came the news that the VAR team were looking at the incident. And, on further inspection, replays showed Martinelli had strayed into an offside position just before receiving the ball and crossing to Saka.

Arsenal thought they had scored a 89th-minute winner through Bukayo Saka until VAR ruled it out for offside ❌ pic.twitter.com/QuYnyk4BeH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 8, 2024

Two more points dropped for Arsenal, and the momentum back with Liverpool.

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9. Jota proves title mettle

Down to 10 men after Andy Robertson’s red card and already 1-0 down at home to Fulham, December 14 was an afternoon that seemed set to become a nightmare for Liverpool.

Yet, for all the high stakes and improbable odds, damage limitation was never considered. Control was seized, offensive changes were made — including moving Ryan Gravenberch from midfield to a ball-playing centre-back role — and Liverpool deserved to equalise.

In fact, they levelled twice: once when Gakpo made it 1-1 at the start of the second half and then, after Rodrigo Muniz had restored Fulham’s lead, through Diogo Jota, who capped a slaloming run with a fine 86th-minute finish that was celebrated like a winner.

With Arsenal drawing 0-0 with Everton at the same time, it made supporters more confident that this team had the mentality to go all the way.

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10. Gakpo’s moment of Boxing Day magic

After comprehensive away victories against Tottenham (6-3) and West Ham (5-0), facing lowly Leicester City at home on Boxing Day should have followed the same pattern — yet Jordan Ayew’s early goal upset the narrative.

Slot’s side were left to huff and puff for the rest of the first half, unable to break down a resilient low block as the interval approached.

Step forward, Cody Gakpo.

The Netherlands international had been a versatile option under Klopp, but Liverpool’s new head coach had different ideas about him. Slot restored Gakpo to his favoured position on the left and the forward brought the momentum of playing as his country got to the semi-finals in the European Championship last summer into this season.

Cutting inside and firing a shot into the opposite top corner has become his trademark, and that was exactly what he did against Leicester to restore Liverpool’s equilibrium, with Slot’s side then going on to win 3-1.

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11. Villa’s eight-minute comeback

Nunez’s late double against Brentford on January 18 shifted the momentum into Liverpool’s favour as they picked up three points, with Arsenal still to play later that day.

As Arsenal’s players prepared to take to the field at the Emirates, it would have been difficult to ignore the news coming in from across London. For 59 minutes, it looked like it had not affected them, as they moved into a 2-0 lead against Aston Villa. A routine three points to keep the pressure on looked secure.

But former Arsenal manager Unai Emery and his men had other ideas, and two goals in eight minutes from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins levelled the game and inflicted a huge blow on Arsenal’s belief. They were now six points behind Liverpool.

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12. Arsenal fail in bid for Watkins

After a month of Arsenal supporters demanding their club sign a striker, that wish came close to being granted on January 27 when they made a £60million offer for Aston Villa’s England international Watkins.

The timing of the bid — in the week of Villa’s final match of the Champions League’s league phase, and with just a few days left in the winter transfer window — upset his parent club, but had the potential to hand the north Londoners a timely lift in the title race.

Arsenal’s late gamble, pushed for by Arteta, did not pay off, with Villa opting to sell their other international front man, Jhon Duran, to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr instead.

That failed pursuit was compounded by Arsenal’s top scorer Kai Havertz suffering a serious hamstring injury two weeks later. With Gabriel Jesus already out (he is yet to return), it left Arteta with no senior strikers.

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13. Kluivert’s miss

Liverpool’s trip to Bournemouth on February 1 was one of their trickiest away tests of the season.

Slot’s side prevailed 2-0 but that does not tell the full story of a match that contained plenty of ‘What if?’ moments.

Alisson produced an excellent save from Antoine Semenyo early in the second half; the same player had hit the post in the first half, too. A tight offside call had also ruled out a David Brooks goal. But Bournemouth’s biggest chance fell to Justin Kluivert with the score at 1-0.

Marcus Tavernier’s curled effort hit the inside of the post…

… and seemingly fell perfectly to Kluivert to tap into an empty net.

Instead, the Dutch forward somehow sliced it wide.

Salah sealed the points later in the half, but this was another big psychological boost to Liverpool’s title pursuit — with a helping hand from a terrible finish.

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14. Quansah keeps Wolves at bay

Liverpool’s run of five Premier League games in 15 days in February felt like a gauntlet. The ‘easiest’ of the five appeared to be at home against struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers and, at half-time, Slot’s side had built a two-goal lead.

Yet there had also been warning signs. Konate was treading a fine line on a yellow card, so Slot replaced him with Quansah. It has been a difficult season for the 22-year-old, who struggled for form during the first half of the season, but now Liverpool needed him to step up.

They were put under serious pressure in the second half and, after Matheus Cunha pulled one back, Vitor Pereira’s side were pushing for an equaliser.

It looked like Marshall Munetsi was going to score it as Tommy Doyle aimed a low pass across goal to the unmarked midfielder…

… the net was at his mercy, with Quansah desperately trying to get back…

… and he did so just in time, reaching the ball first and clearing the danger.

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15. Jones’ timely intervention

A cross into the Liverpool box in the final moments of a Merseyside derby… we’d been here before.

In February, James Tarkowski’s thunderbolt snatched a point in the final derby at Goodison Park. You would have been forgiven for having flashbacks a few weeks later as the ball travelled into the box in the reverse fixture at Anfield, with Liverpool again defending a one-goal lead.

Standing in at right-back due to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley both being out through injury was midfielder Curtis Jones. But when he was needed most, he was in the correct position to make sure there was no repeat of Everton’s Goodison escape.

As Ashley Young delivered into the box, Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite had peeled away to the back post. In between them was Jones…

… who stretched out a leg to clear the ball away with Branthwaite poised to get a shot off.

It secured a precious win just when Liverpool — who had lost the Carabao Cup final and exited the Champions League in their previous two games — needed it most.

From then on, they have not looked back.

(Top photos: Vitezslav Jaros with Virgil van Dijk; Bukayo Saka’s goal at Fulham is ruled out; Getty Images)

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