Mo Salah is six goals ahead of Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race
And considering that Haaland may not feature again for Manchester City this term due to an ankle injury, Salah is seemingly destined to claim the top scorer award outright for the first time since 2018 having shared the gong on two separate occasions with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang/Sadio Mane and Heung-Min Son.
The Egyptian King should also celebrate a new contract – Liverpool are close to tying down Salah and Virgil van Dijk to new deals after months of uncertainty – with the 2024/25 Premier League Player of the Year award too.
And, in terms of the Team of the Season, Salah, Van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Ibrahim Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch will all fancy their chances of being included.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have just one more Manager of the Year award in their Premier League history than they have league titles. Two, both secured by Jurgen Klopp in 2020 and 2022.
Chances are that number will rise to three once Arne Slot secures his own place in the competition’s history books
Liverpool Arne Slot snubbed for Nuno Espirito Santo in Chris Sutton’s Manager of the Year verdict
Despite losing at Fulham last time out, Liverpool can still claim the Premier League title as early as April 20th away at Leicester City.
Yet, speaking to the Daily Mail, former Chelsea, Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton feels there is another manager who’s success this term was arguably even more unexpected.
While many wrote off Slot as Liverpool’s answer to Unai Emery or a post-Sir Alex Ferguson era David Moyes, Nuno Espirito Santo could take Nottingham Forest from the brink of the Championship and into the Champions League in the space of just 12 months.
“People get really upset about these things. They are all deserving winners,” Sutton said when picking his selection for this season’s Manager of the Month gong.
“For me, people could have envisaged Liverpool winning the league, or Newcastle winning a trophy. But nobody could have seen Nuno’s Forest in the position they’re in now.
“Most people had them in a relegation battle. Personally, I thought they would just escape the drop. An FA Cup semi-final as well, what a job that is! Nobody saw it coming, so Nuno would be my Manager of the Season.”
Fabio Capello says Slot has been ‘incredible’ since replacing Jurgen Klopp
Alongside Marco Silva’s Fulham, Nottingham Forest are one of only two teams to defeat Liverpool so far in the current Premier League campaign. The two-time European Champions are the only side to triumph at Anfield, meanwhile; Callum Hudson-Odoi curling home a dramatic winner on Merseyside back in September.
Yet, while Sutton may say otherwise, it’s fair to say Liverpool were expected to suffer a bit of a drop-off in their first season without the talismanic presence of Jurgen Klopp.
The legendary Fabio Capello knows just how difficult a job Arne Slot inherited at Anfield, having experienced something similar all those years ago at AC Milan.
“To [put Liverpool on the brink of the title] after Jurgen Klopp, who I liked, is incredible,” Capello told The Mail. “It’s a bit like my career.
“I arrived at AC Milan after Arrigo Sacchi and everyone said the team is finished, that they don’t like to work any more, they had won too many trophies. I think it’s more or less the same.”
