Arne Slot’s maiden season at Liverpool can be considered a success: the 46-year-old became the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth manager to secure gold at the first time of trying. More importantly to the Anfield faithful, he’s softened the blow after Jurgen Klopp departed for pastures new.
In the early stages of 2024/25, winning the Champions League was also not off the cards – but that was until they met Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16, thus ending their campaign at Europe's top table earlier than expected.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Darwin Nunez. Related
Liverpool's 2024/25 Squad Ranked
Liverpool's 2024/25 squad has been ranked ahead of the summer transfer window, and many players could face uncertain futures.
By virtue of plying their trade in the Premier League, English clubs are typically expected to faster than others that adopt a calmer, more possession-based style of play – but do the underlying statistics agree? More particularly, we’ve taken a look at the top speeds of every Liverpool player from this season’s Champions League run.
27-21
Alisson clocked a quicker speed than academy trio
Kicking things off is youngster James McConnell, who patrolled the engine room in Liverpool’s Champions League dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven at the end of January. He clocked a top speed of 27.8 km/h, which is slightly slower than fellow youngsters Amara Nallo (28.5km/h) and Trey Nyoni (29 km/h).
Despite being stationed in between the sticks, the ever-reliable Alisson Becker, who is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history, has posted a quicker speed than the aforementioned trio at 29.2 km/h – perhaps recorded when rushing out to pick up a loose ball.
Jayden Danns – before joining Sunderland on loan for the second half of the season – registered 83 Champions League minutes against PSV and in his cameo, the 2006-born star clocked a top speed just higher than 30 km/h. To be exact, he managed to hit a speed of 30.1 km/h.
jayden danns liverpool Related
What's Happened to Liverpool's Jayden Danns Since He Joined Sunderland on Loan
As one of Liverpool's most exciting academy prospects, Jayden Danns' loan spell at Sunderland has been nothing short of tumultuous.
Engine room duo Harvey Elliott, 22, and Wataru Endo, who is ten years the Englishman's senior, perhaps don’t have the license to make the most of their Type II twitch fibres – and that’s evidenced by their respective top speeds of 30.3 km/h and 30.6 km/h in the Champions League this season.
Liverpool Players Ranked From Slowest to Fastest – 27-21
Rank
27.
26.
25.
24.
23.
22.
21.
20-11
Alexis Mac Allister, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz feature
Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and chiefly one of Slot's multi-faceted talents, Diogo Jota, kick off the top 20 with top speeds of 30.9 and 31.8 km/h. The latter is a surprise given how often we see a lung-busting run as a means of latching onto a ball that's been delivered into the danger area.
There are question marks hanging over the head of Leeds United-linked Kostas Tsimikas heading into the summer months but, in his six Champions League appearances this season, he notched a top speed of bang on 32 km/h, which is slower than Tyler Morton, a young midfielder who totted up just 39 minutes of action.
Commonly admired as one of the most underrated footballers on the planet right now, Alexis Mac Allister – who is more known for his ability to run about like a Duracell bunny rather than a Cheetah – clocked a respectable top speed of 32.3 km/h.
Next up is Joe Gomez, the unfairly-used Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo – who, all in all, weren’t considered to be nailed-on starters for Slot and his entourage this season. Respectively, they ran up to speeds of 32.4 km/h, 32.9 km/h and 33km/h.
Given that he plays out wide and has tricky feet, one would assume that Luis Diaz would break the top ten… at least. The Colombian hotshot, however, is placed in 11th – his top speed reached just 33.2 km/h, which is exactly the same as the aforementioned Gakpo.
Liverpool Players Ranked From Slowest to Fastest – 27-21
Rank
20.
19.
18.
17.
16.
15.
14.
13.
12.
11.
10-1
Six defenders dominate Liverpool's top ten speedsters
Ryan Gravenberch – widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football – commences the top ten speedsters in Liverpool’s ranks. Having played 784 minutes in Europe’s top table this season, he racked up a speed of 33.4 km/h.
That matches the quickest pace of an ageing Andy Robertson, whose position in the squad is under threat this summer. Jarell Quansah just cracks the 34 km/h mark while fellow central defender Ibrahima Konate clocked a top speed of 34.1 km/h.
The inevitable Mohamed Salah is best known for getting in the right positions and scoring goals like it’s going out of fashion – but his goalscoring aside, he has pace to burn to boost his attacking threat. Across 808 Champions League minutes, he notched a speed of 34/5 km/h.
Ranking the greatest Liverpool players in history featuring Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard and Mohamed Salah Related
25 Greatest Players in Liverpool History (Ranked)
The 25 greatest players in Liverpool history have been named, including Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
Darwin Nunez’s goalscoring exploits, for good reason, get a fair share of criticism – but something he does have in his limited bag of tricks is raw speed, as evidenced by his top speed of 34.4 km/h but Dominik Szobsozlai – who, since records began, is also one of the fastest players in Premier League history – was quicker.
Who says that the older somebody gets, the slower they become? Skipper Virgil van Dijk, 33, defies that very logic by clocking the quickest speed in Liverpool’s 2023/24 Champions League campaign – which was 34.9 km/h, to be precise!
Liverpool Players Ranked From Slowest to Fastest – 27-21
Rank
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
All statistics per the Champions League website - correct as of 16/05/2025