Liverpool have been crowned Premier League champions, equalling Manchester United’s record of 20 top-flight titles.
The Reds clinched the title in style at a jubilant Anfield with a thumping 5-1 win over Tottenham.
Arne Slot’s side have led from the front in the Dutchman’s first season in England, losing just twice in 34 games to win the league and end Manchester City’s unprecedented four-year grip on the title.
Few backed Liverpool to compete for top spot after Jurgen Klopp’s departure a year ago, but Slot has defied all expectations and already matched his predecessor’s league-title haul.
The 46-year-old is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in their debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte.
Asked how he had made winning the title appear so easy, Slot told Sky Sports: “That’s not only my job, it’s the job of the players and the staff members standing over there and the work Jurgen (Klopp) and Pepijn (Lijnders) left behind over here.
“The culture of the team, the work rate, the quality was outstanding. We all knew that. We started off really well and it maybe helped a bit that (Manchester) City had a difficult spell, which they hadn’t had in five years.
“When the season started everyone would have been happy if we were in the top four for Champions League again but I don’t think that was fair to our players because they are much better than that and that’s what they have showed this season.”
Liverpool won their first title for five years at a canter too, with City dropping off this season, while Arsenal failed to keep up after being blighted by injuries and are set to be runners-up for the third year running.
The newly-crowned champions can still surpass City’s 91-point tally from last season, which would put them in esteemed company. Only 14 teams, including Liverpool on three occasions under Klopp, have hit 90 points in the Premier League era.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports amid the celebrations: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England.
“(Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Guardiola congratulates Liverpool
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola congratulated Liverpool after City’s FA Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.
He said: “I want to congratulate Liverpool.
“It is well deserved, a fantastic team, and hopefully next season we can be better.
“This season it couldn’t be possible, so congratulations to Liverpool.”
“The way in which he’s kept calm and composed at points whereby maybe it’s not gone as well for them as he would have wanted, the way in which he’s got the maximum out of every single player – and I’m not talking about the very best players in the team, which he obviously has – is a fantastic testament to him.”
Liverpool will be presented with the Premier League trophy after their final home game of the season against Crystal Palace on Sunday May 25, the first time the club’s supporters will have actually seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since May 1990.
When were Liverpool last crowned Premier League champions?
Liverpool last won the league title back in the delayed 2019/20 Covid season when Klopp’s side amassed 99 points en route to becoming champions, ending a 30-year wait for a top-flight title in the process.
Courtesy: Sky Sports
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