Liverpool title a formality? You are joking. They have decades of ghosts to exorcise - nile sport

The blue wall was holding firm, the visitors were relishing delaying the hosts’ bid to paint the town red, and then Liverpool’s legendary captain made a horrendous, uncharacteristic error sending an opposing striker one-on-one with the goalkeeper at the Kop end.

This could have been eerily and despairingly familiar for Merseyside’s league leaders. For Chelsea’s Demba Ba in the spring of 2014, read Everton’s Beto in April, 2025. The outcome may prove equally consequential in determining which name is engraved onto the Premier League trophy.

Should the ticker-tape parade begin in this stadium on May 25, Caoimhin Kelleher could be forgiven for leading a ceremonial kissing of his right post before receiving the silverware, acknowledging how it came to his club’s rescue on this emotionally charged night.

Sliding-doors moments are in danger of being name-checked to the point of cliché when analysing matches, seasons and even eras.

Even had Beto taken his chance to leave Virgil van Dijk fearing seeing his defensive mishap replayed as often as Steven Gerrard’s 11 years ago, Liverpool’s response at the start of the second half may have given them the necessary momentum to restore their 12-point lead over Arsenal.

And yet there was an unshakeable sense the Merseyside derby was evolving like a reconstruction of Jose Mourinho parking double-decker buses around Anfield the last time Liverpool turned into the closing straight with a lead and a raucous crowd begging them to cross the line.

You could sense the anxiety before Diogo Jota’s winner. It was audible with every howl when a pass was delayed or misplaced, or scream for the ball to be moved quicker through the zones before Everton’s retreat to the edge of the penalty had the necessary reinforcements.

It was still there when Liverpool were protecting their lead, Arne Slot’s players navigating their way through the exasperation when six minutes of added time ushered in the final, aerial barrage for Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to resist.

The neutrals have been calling the title race a formality for weeks, and will no doubt reassert that view following the latest victory. There are enough demons to banish to guarantee nothing can be taken for granted when Liverpool are closing in on a championship.

Even the one success in the past 35 years absorbed a world health crisis and some insidious attempts to null and void the season.

If that is fresh in memory, there are plenty of other psychological wounds of missed opportunities to heal, some overlooked or forgotten beyond Anfield but enough to give fatalistic Liverpool supporters sleepless nights between now and the promised land of 86 points.

The ones that got away are as much part of the fabric of the club’s recent history.

Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea is repeated most. Then there was losing the title on a final day shoot-out to Manchester City in 2019 and 2022, a vibrant Anfield arriving with hope but leaving cursing watching a great Liverpool side assembled in the wrong seasons.

Go back to the Rafael Benítez era and he will name-check Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin scoring four to halt a title charge in 2009, just before Federico Macheda popped up with a crucial Manchester United goal with his only meaningful contribution to English football. Benítez lost the title by four points.

The ignominious list goes further into the Nineties, David James’ Liverpool career defined by flapping at David Beckham crosses in a decisive game against United in 1997 to ensure Roy Evans never won the Premier League and the chance to banish those “Spice Boy” jibes was gone for a talented but ultimately unfulfilled team.

These laments began in February 1991, when Sir Kenny Dalglish quit the reigning champions with Liverpool top of the league, Arsenal effectively gifted the title as the holders lost six of their next 14 matches.

Jürgen Klopp finally ended the title drought in 2020, but there were no supporters inside Anfield to celebrate it. Now they are on the verge of satisfying an ache to ensure they can take title celebrations from their living room into the stadium and the streets.

Not since Alan Hansen in 1990 has a Liverpool captain had the chance to receive the championship trophy and lift it towards a full Kop.

To the rest of the country, Liverpool are simply trying to seal the deal to win the Premier League. At Anfield, they are also seeking to exorcise the ghosts of all those near-misses and party cancellations of the recent past.