The Premier League 2024/25 campaign has come to an end with Liverpool winning the title. Arsenal finished second but the Gunners hardly managed to give any fight to the Reds, finishing 17 points behind the champions.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men finished off their season with a win over Southampton away from home whereas Liverpool celebrated their league title following a draw against Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Manchester United legend and football pundit Roy Keane surprisingly praised second-placed Arsenal for their fighting spirit after the Liverpool game where they were 2-0 down to make it 2-2 and walked home with a crucial point from the Anfield despite being a man down in the 79th minute.
“Credit to Arsenal, everyone is criticising them towards the end of the season, but they came back against Liverpool,” Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast. “They’re showing a bit of a fight and spirit.
“Liverpool have switched off – they’re irritating me. It doesn’t matter [that they’ve won the league], but the fringe players and the B team are coming in – what kind of message is that?
“I’m thinking come on – show a bit of class. Salah scores a goal and he’s taking pictures [against Tottenham Hotspur] – the game’s still on. Liven up a little bit!”
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Although, Keane said it a few weeks ago, his words came true as Liverpool somehow managed to earn a draw at home against Crystal Palace. It was Mohamed Salah, who came up with a late goal to save them from embarassment.
The Reds have put their foot off the peddle after confirming their Premier League crown. After their resounding win over Tottenham, Liverpool haven’t won any of their last four league games. They have drawn against Arsenal and Palace at home while losing to Chelsea and Brighton away from home.
Arne Slot decided to rotate the squad and gave chances to fringe players in these final few matches. However, they never really had the intensity in their game once they sealed the league title.
What did Arteta say after the Southampton win?
Arsenal had a tough set of fixtures towards the end of the season and they despite missing out on the Premier League and crashing out of the Champions League semifinals, they still managed to produced spirited results against Liverpool followed by wins over Newcastle United and Southampton.
Arteta was desperate to finish the season on a high as he believes that they always wanted to end the season with a win before going to the holidays.
“I’m very happy to finish winning the match. We wanted to leave that dressing room at the end of the season with a positive energy, with a good vibe,” Arteta said. “We had to say goodbye as well to a few players that won’t be with us next season, and that was quite emotional as well. I think they deserved their appreciation and a good vibe around it.
“We’ve done it and now we’re going to have plenty of time to think, to analyse what happened in the season, to learn from it for sure. To take all the incredible positive things that the team has done regarding the circumstances and think, ‘Okay, how can we now go into that little percentage that is missing to get where we want?’”
Arsenal are working actively in the summer transfer market to strengthen their roster as they aim to bridge the gap between them and the champions, Liverpool.
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