The Premier League title race has long been done and dusted in reality, but on Sunday, Liverpool officially got the job done.

Opta's supercomputer gave Liverpool just a 5.5% chance of winning the Premier League at the start of the season, behind Manchester City (82.5%) and Arsenal (11.4%).

But with four games to spare, the Reds are champions.

Dominic Solanke's early header threatened to spoil the Anfield party on Sunday, but Liverpool put their foot down and cruised to a 5-1 victory over Tottenham, with Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah scoring before Destiny Udogie put through his own net.

Liverpool have now won their 20th top-flight title, matching Manchester United's English record.

Here, we dive into the Opta data to assess the key elements behind Liverpool's second Premier League title tilt.

New league, no problem

Slot won a trophy in two of his three seasons in charge of Feyenoord, and in the one campaign in which he did not clinch some silverware, he guided the Dutch club to a Europa Conference League final.

So, he had a good pedigree, but it was still something of a surprise to see Liverpool turn to Slot to replace Jurgen Klopp, whose long farewell ultimately saw the Reds fall short last season.

However, Slot has taken the Premier League by storm. 

Liverpool have lost just two league games this season. Their first defeat came at home to Nottingham Forest in September, while their second came against Fulham at Craven Cottage on April 6.

Even in that most recent defeat, the Reds could consider themselves somewhat unfortunate - they finished with 14 shots, getting six on target (matching Fulham's tally) and generating 1.5 expected goals (xG) to their opponents' 0.74.

Slot has averaged 2.41 points per game in the league this season. Across his 334 top-flight matches in charge of Liverpool, Klopp averaged 2.11 points per game. 

Of course, it is a much smaller sample size for Slot than it is for Klopp, but breaking it down into individual seasons, he stacks up extremely well against his predecessor.

In only three of his eight full seasons in charge did Klopp's Liverpool average more points per game than Slot's Reds have so far this term - in 2021-22 (2.42), 2018-19 (2.55), and when winning the title in 2019-20 (2.60).

Klopp, however, also had to go up against a Manchester City team at the peak of their powers. That has not been the case for Slot this season, though that certainly should not take away from his achievement.

Slot is the fifth Premier League boss to win the title in his maiden season in the competition, not counting the inaugural campaign. He follows in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho (Chelsea, 2004-05), Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, 2009-10), Manuel Pellegrini (Man City, 2013-14) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea, 2016-17).

He is the first Dutch coach to win the trophy, and his team have been by far and away the most consistent performers this season.

Man City collapsed and Arsenal's title challenge never really got going. Liverpool, meanwhile, have scored 80 goals - 14 clear of any other team - from a league-leading 75.5 xG.

No team has created (136) or scored (53) as many big chances as the Reds.

Liverpool have been dominant, as Slot has transitioned away from Klopp's heavy metal football towards a more controlled approach. Though three players in particular have been crucial.

Sensational Salah 

There is not much more to say about Salah, so we will let his numbers do the talking.

Salah has the most goals (28) and assists (18) in the Premier League this season, with his most recent strike coming in Sunday's title-clinching win over Spurs.

His total of 46 goal involvements this term is the most by any player in a 38-game campaign, having surpassed Thierry Henry's 2002-03 haul of 44 by assisting Diaz in a recent 2-1 win over West Ham.

And the overall record of 47 – held jointly by Andy Cole (for Newcastle United in 1993-94) and Alan Shearer (for Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95) in 42-game campaigns – is within his grasp with four games still to play.

It would require something special in the campaign's closing weeks, but Salah could yet claim the single-season records for both goals and assists in their own right, too.

Erling Haaland's high of 36 goals for City in 2022-23 looks a tall order, but the record of 20 assists (by Henry in 2002-03 and Kevin De Bruyne in 2019-20) is one the Egyptian will back himself to at least match.

It is no wonder the Reds were so keen to keep Salah, recently tying him down to a new two-year contract after months of speculation regarding his future.

Van Dijk and Alisson provide the bedrock

Salah was not the only player Liverpool were desperate to tie to fresh terms, either.

While Trent Alexander-Arnold is seemingly heading for Real Madrid, Virgil van Dijk is staying put, penning a new contract to run as long as Salah's.

Van Dijk has been at the heart of a rock-solid Reds rearguard this term. Only Arsenal have conceded fewer goals (29) than Liverpool (32), with the Reds giving up the fewest expected goals against (28.94 xGA) of any team. 

Only Arsenal have faced fewer shots (318) than Liverpool's 322 in the Premier League this term, and no side can match their 14 clean sheets.

Van Dijk is the only defender to play all 34 league games for Liverpool this term, and despite the fact he turns 34 in July, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Since he made his Liverpool debut in 2018, Van Dijk has made the second-most clearances of any Premier League defender (1,005), trailing only James Tarkowski (1,438).

Only Tarkowski (1,818) has won more duels among defenders in the top-flight in that time than Van Dijk (1,237), with the centre-back having played a part in 98 league clean sheets - more than any other defender.

Van Dijk has also scored 27 goals for Liverpool in all competitions, with the most recent being a last-gasp winner against West Ham.

That is more goals than any other Premier League defender has scored in all competitions in that time, with Wolves' Matt Doherty second on 23.

Behind Van Dijk, Alisson has had another tremendous campaign between the sticks. Among all goalkeepers to make at least 10 appearances in the Premier League this term, the Brazilian ranks fifth for save percentage, stopping 72.22% of shots he faces.

Alisson has kept the joint-fifth most clean sheets in the division this season (nine), despite playing in just 24 matches.

And according to Opta's expected goals on target (xGOT) model, Alisson has conceded marginally fewer goals than expected, given the quality of finishes he has faced (conceding 19 times excluding own goals from 19.35 xGOT faced).

Alisson has missed 10 league games due to injury this campaign, and though Caoimhin Kelleher has impressed as his deputy, the Reds have missed their number one.

They have a 75% win rate and average 0.8 goals conceded per game with Alisson in their lineup in 2024-25, with those figures at 70% and 1.2 goals against without him.

Solid as a rock under an engaging new coach, and with Salah producing arguably the best individual campaign in Premier League history, this has been Liverpool's year.