2024 will surely go down as one of the more memorable years at Liverpool Football Club since the turn of the century.
The year had barely sprung when Jurgen Klopp announced on January 26th that he would step down from his role as Liverpool manager at the end of the season after eight-and-a-half magnificent years at Anfield in which he guided the Reds to every trophy possible.
Less than one month later, Klopp lifted one final piece of silverware, the second League Cup of his term as Liverpool manager, as his injury-hit side earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea in extra-time of the cup final.
Liverpool sat top of the Premier League table for several of the following weeks, but a loss of form ultimately saw the Reds tumble to an eventual third place finish and denied Klopp the dream sendoff of a league title.
Meanwhile, significant developments were taking place off the pitch as well, and across several tiers of the club's hierarchy.
In March, club owners Fenway Sports Group announced Michael Edwards would assume the position of CEO of Football in June after he served as Liverpool’s Sporting Director from 2016 until his resignation in 2022. The next massive official announcement arrived on May 20th to confirm the widely anticipated appointment of then-Feyenoord manager Arne Slot as Klopp’s successor.
Slot has since enjoyed an exceptional start to his Liverpool reign with his side eight points clear at the top of the Premier League and top of the league-phase of the Champions League with a perfect record in their first six matches.
On Sunday, his Liverpool side trounced West Ham 5-0 in London to complete the calendar year on a strong note.
In what has been an eventful twelve months across multiple levels at the club, on the pitch and off it, I’ve listed the five most defining moments of the year.
5. Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool, April 7th
Liverpool had no room for error as they headed to Old Trafford in the thick of their title-run in. They sat top of the table at the start of the weekend, but Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday meant that the Reds’ only path back to the table’s summit necessitated a win at the home of their bitter rivals the next day.
Liverpool entered the tunnel at interval 1-0 up and on course for those three crucial points. However, they would ultimately rue their appalling wastefulness in the final third as two second half strikes from the hosts left Klopp’s side requiring an 84th-minute penalty from Mohamed Salah just to salvage a draw.
That result kept Liverpool level with the Gunners on points, but saw them fail to recapture their position at the top of the table as they sat behind Arsenal by nine goals on goal difference.
Liverpool’s dreams of sending Klopp off with a league title all but disappeared in the following weeks with shock defeats to Crystal Palace and Everton.
Ultimately, the two points dropped against United would not have been enough for the Reds to overcome the final point gap in the standings between themselves and eventual champions Manchester City.
But that Sunday at Old Trafford was nonetheless where Liverpool’s strong momentum in their push for the title came to a decisive halt.