Get ready for a party at Anfield as Liverpool looks to clinch Premier League title

Fireworks exploded from the roof. Red smoke filled the air. Family members applauded as players, one by one, lifted the trophy.

Yet Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning celebrations in 2020 could hardly be described as a party. For one, no fans were allowed inside a mostly empty Anfield to witness it because of restrictions in place during the pandemic.

Five years later, it will all be so different.

Liverpool is again set to be crowned as English champion and, this time, its storied stadium will be filled — inside and no doubt on the concourses and roads outside — with supporters ready to commemorate the team’s achievement.

Only one point is needed against Tottenham on Sunday for Liverpool to win the league.

In 2020, securing the title ended a 30-year drought. In 2025, it will mark another significant milestone: Tying fierce rival Manchester United’s record of 20 English top-flight championships.

Expect the party to go on for some time, too. Liverpool fans have been waiting for this.

As the coronavirus raged in 2020, they were shut out of Anfield as Jordan Henderson did what no Liverpool captain had done since 1990 — lift the league trophy. Only a late government reprieve ensured players at least had a few family members inside the stadium. The select few granted invitations had to wear face masks.

Some fans made their presence felt by setting off pyrotechnics in nearby streets but it wasn’t what they imagined a title party would feel like.

Do the business against Spurs and Liverpool would clinch the title with four games to go, ensuring an unassailable advantage over second-placed Arsenal.

For Arne Slot, it will be a Premier League title in his first season in English soccer. Only four managers — Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini and Antonio Conte — have ever done that.

And there will be a huge sense of satisfaction at ending the four-year hegemony of Manchester City, whose big drop-off this season has allowed Liverpool to fill the void.

The Reds have done so in impressive fashion, losing just twice — to Nottingham Forest and Fulham — and racking up 24 wins from 33 games.

When United sealed title No. 20 in 2013 to go two clear of Liverpool, it felt like that gap would only get wider. Liverpool, after all, finished in seventh place that season.

Instead, United has regressed in the post-Alex Ferguson era — the team is in 14th place in the Premier League — and Liverpool has regained its status as an English and European giant, first under Jurgen Klopp and under his successor, Slot.

It's Liverpool which could pull clear now, especially with City needing to rebuild, the current Arsenal team yet to prove it can win a major trophy under Mikel Arteta, and United in crisis.

Liverpool will celebrate this title long and hard, but knows this can be just the start of a period of success.

By the time, Liverpool attempts to wrap up the Premier League, the finalists for the FA Cup will be known.

Hours earlier Sunday, Man City will take on Forest in the second semifinal at Wembley Stadium. On Saturday, Aston Villa will meet Crystal Palace.

Of the four semifinalists, only City has won a trophy this century. Forest's last piece of silverware was the English League Cup in 1990, Villa's was in 1996 (also the League Cup), while Palace — a beaten FA Cup finalist in 1990 and 2016 — has never won a major trophy.

Ipswich is set to become the third and final team to be relegated, joining Southampton and Leicester back in the Championship.

Ipswich — in third-to-last place — is 15 points from safety with five games remaining, so it's a matter of when not if.

Even beating Newcastle away on Saturday — which is unlikely in itself — might not be enough, with fourth-to-last Wolverhampton at home to Leicester that day and needing only a point to ensure survival.

If Ipswich is demoted, it means the three promoted teams will all have been relegated for the second straight season.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah warms up prior to the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Liverpool's manager Arne Slot celebrates at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alexander Nikishin took the ice helmetless for warmups prior to Game 5 of the Carolina Hurricanes' second-round series at Washington and skated the customary solo lap for a player making his NHL debut.

While it meant bad news of injured defenseman Jalen Chatfield not being available, Nikishin got to go from playing in Russia all season to jumping into the middle of the playoffs. The organization's top prospect skated 10 1/2 minutes as Chatfield's replacement on the blue line and drew strong reviews from teammates and coach Rod Brind'Amour for how he handled the situation.

“I don’t know that there’s a tougher spot to throw a kid in, especially when there’s such a language barrier,” Brind'Amour said. “I thought he did all right. We got a little fortunate on the one that was offside because he turned that one over and had it on his tape, but he hung in there. And you can see he’s going to be a good player for us, and he’s got a bright future.”

Nikishin was spared of being on the wrong end of a Capitals goal because it was taken off the board on a coach's challenge for offside. He was steady in most of his 16 shifts Thursday night.

“I thought he was great,” veteran defenseman Sean Walker said. "He’s a big body, he skates well, he shoots the puck well. He really ended some plays in the D zone and in the O zone you see he can get a pretty good shot off. It was great to see.”

Brind'Amour and Walker credited Dmitry Orlov and the Hurricanes' other Russians for helping the 23-year-old new to North America adjust as well as possible. Nikishin left the KHL earlier this spring and signed his first NHL contract last month.

“I was so nervous whenever a Russian guy comes and starts playing, but I tried to give him a couple advices and I think he did a great job,” said Svechnikov, who scored the go-ahead goal in a series-ending 3-1 victory. "I couldn’t imagine just coming from Russia and playing a playoff game. It must be so hard. But he did a great job. I’m very proud of him.”

Chatfield appeared to tweak something late in Game 4. The team announced early in warmups that Chatfield would not play in Game 5 because of an undisclosed injury.

“That was just a huge guy to have out,” Brind'Amour said. “Hopefully he can recover in however many days that we have here.”

Carolina will face either Florida or Toronto in the Eastern Conference final. Walker, Orlov, Jaccob Slavin, Shayne Gostisbehere and Brent Burns played some extra minutes in Chatfield's absence Thursday night but would love to have him in the lineup for the opening game of the third round.

“We really miss Chatty,” Walker said. "He’s a big part of our D corps back there, so we’ll be excited to have him back.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin (21) skates with the puck past Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) in the first period of Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin (21) warms up before Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Washington Capitals Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)