Liverpool secured their 20th English league title last season, drawing level with Manchester United at the top of the standings.
Jurgen Klopp’s exit, coupled with the club’s unremarkable summer business, led many people to believe Liverpool were in a transitional era.
However, Arne Slot replaced Klopp as manager and took the Premier League by storm.
Manchester City and Arsenal were expected to go head-to-head for the third year running, but the Reds stunned their rivals.
City and Arsenal had their moments, but they were thwarted by recurring injury problems along the way.
While Liverpool won the title on merit, there’ll always be a question about whether the injuries suffered by their two closest rivals played a key role in shaping the title race.
According to data from OLBG, Premier League clubs lost over 21,000 combined days to injuries last season, with Arsenal and City among the most affected teams.
Arsenal suffered 36 injuries, and City weren’t too far behind with 33. Both teams ranked inside the top ten of the league’s most injury-hit teams, but Liverpool avoided such problems.
Slot deserves plenty of praise for keeping his key players fit for long stretches of the season.
Arsenal had hoped to go one step further last season, after finishing as runners-up in the previous two years, but injuries to key players derailed their campaign.
Their 36 injuries were the fourth-highest in the league. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey spent time on the sidelines.
Mikel Arteta’s side were chasing shadows by the time spring came around, and their faint hopes of overtaking Liverpool were over.
Meanwhile, City’s injury woes took them out of the equation before they could even find their feet.
They had better depth than Arsenal, but losing Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne marked the start of their eventual decline.
Even Erling Braut Haaland wasn’t immune to injuries. He was sidelined due to muscular issues, which presented manager Pep Guardiola with a new challenge to address.
City were still competitive, but their aura of inevitability cracked, and it wasn’t long until they went from title challengers to top four contenders.
With Arsenal and City falling by the wayside, it would be easy to put Liverpool’s success down to sheer luck.
But luck alone does not win league titles. They still needed to put in the work, and they did. Liverpool won the title on merit.
Injuries are a part of football, so it takes nothing away from Liverpool.
