For the second successive season, Liverpool ended with a 1-1 draw at Anfield, bidding farewell to a wonderful full-back after taking just two points from their final four games. There the similarities ended. Liverpool’s faltering form at the end of the 2024-25 campaign could be explained by the fact they had already won the title. Twelve months on, they had more to play for and limped into the Champions League at the last.
The verdict from the captain was unsparing. “This poor season, the most challenging of my career,” said Virgil van Dijk. It was Liverpool’s worst for a decade, certainly in terms of the points tally: just 60, 24 down on the previous year, scoring 23 fewer goals, while conceding more than 16th-placed Nottingham Forest.
