Five talking points at the midway point of the Premier League season

Liverpool have one hand on the Premier League title as 2024 draws to a close, while it was a first half of the season to forget for Manchester City and Manchester United.

A season of unexpected twists has featured Nottingham Forest making an astonishing surge to second place, with United and Tottenham wallowing in the bottom half of the table.

AFP Sport looks at five takeaways at the midway point of the 2024/25 campaign:

No Klopp, no problem for Liverpool
The emotional departure of Jurgen Klopp, who earned legendary status on Merseyside for winning the Premier League and Champions League during his near nine year-stint in charge, had dampened expectations of a title challenge before the campaign began.

But Klopp had crucially rejuvenated his squad before passing the reins to Arne Slot, who has made a near flawless start.

The former Feyenoord boss has won 23 of his 27 matches in all competitions, which also includes a 100 percent record to top the Champions League and progress to the League Cup semi-finals.

Mohamed Salah has been the catalyst with 17 goals and 13 assists in 18 Premier League games.

Even speculation over the futures of Egypt forward Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are all out of contract at the end of the season, has not derailed Liverpool’s rampant run.

Arsenal, nine points back, appear their most serious challenger, but Liverpool are well on course to match Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles by May.

Man City’s fall from grace
City’s run of two wins in their last 14 matches has been the story of the season so far, with Pep Guardiola admitting their record streak of four consecutive titles will not extend to a fifth.

The defending champions are