Adrian Kajumba's 2024/25 awards: Best match, assist and more!

Football writer Adrian Kajumba reveals his personal picks for the best match, individual performance, newcomer, celebration and more for 2024/25.

Best match - Tottenham Hotspur 3-6 Liverpool

As Ange Postecoglou led Tottenham Hotspur into their pre-Christmas meeting with Liverpool, he was attempting to defend his methods by highlighting the entertainment value of his team's matches.

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That value was at its highest when Spurs and Liverpool served up the highest-scoring Premier League game of the season. 

Attack was the best form of defence in this crazy encounter, especially from Liverpool who produced a relentless, statement performance on their way to the title, racking up the highest Expected Goals (xG) by a team in a Premier League match this season of 5.63.  

The nine-goal thriller featured countless moments of class and standout displays from the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold but also an admirable refusal to back down from depleted Spurs, even when the game looked beyond them, which added to the spectacle.

Best individual performance - Cole Palmer (Chelsea v Brighton)

During his stunning start to the season, when he produced 20 goal involvements (14 goals, six assists) in his first 21 games, Cole Palmer made Premier League history. 

He became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match, inspiring Chelsea to a 4-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion. Palmer's haul included a 10-minute hat-trick which he sealed with a brilliant free-kick. 

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Impressively, his display against Brighton was the second time Palmer had four goal involvements in one game, having done the same against Wolverhampton Wanderers in August, with only three other players achieving the feat all season. 

PL players with four goal involvements 24/25

Best team performance - Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton

Brighton were also on the receiving end of the best team performance, one which typified Nottingham Forest when they were at their peak this season. 

The Seagulls visited the City Ground not long after a six-game unbeaten run that included positive results against Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester United.

But they were blown away by Forest who produced a devastatingly efficient display, responding to a 5-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth a week earlier with their biggest win since 1991.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed repeatedly during the campaign they did not need possession to thrive.

They had just 37 per cent against Brighton but scored seven times, and from just nine shots. Chris Wood scored a hat-trick and Anthony Elanga registered a treble of assists. 

"This football pitch has seen very few performances over 50 or 100 years that have matched what I have just seen out there today," said Forest legend Stuart Pearce.

Forest’s shock 2-1 win at Liverpool was another standout performance this season.

Bournemouth recorded notable wins at home to Man City and away to Newcastle United and Arsenal, while Spurs’ 4-0 thrashing of Man City at the Etihad Stadium was another impressive result in 2024/25.

Best assist - Jacob Murphy (Ipswich v Newcastle) 

In a season full of standout moments for Jacob Murphy, his audacious back-heel assist for Alexander Isak’s hat-trick goal against Ipswich Town will surely be high on the list. 

It was one of seven goals winger Murphy created for Isak in 2024/25, the most by one player for the same team-mate, while only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (18) beat the Newcastle United winger’s assists total of 12.

Watch Isak's hat-trick - and Murphy's assist for the third goal

Murphy was not the only player who caught the eye by setting up a goal with a clever back-heel flick.

Fulham's Raul Jimenez did it for Andreas Pereira at Man City while Man Utd's Bruno Fernandes (for Rasmus Hojlund against Brentford), Eberechi Eze (for Jean-Philippe Mateta against Spurs) and Arsenal's Mikel Merino (for Gabriel Martinelli at Ipswich) all set up goals in similar fashion. 

Most common scorer + assister combinations PL 24/25

Best newcomer - Arne Slot (Liverpool) 

Any fears about what life may look like for Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp have been spectacularly dispelled by Arne Slot.

In his debut season in charge at Anfield, Slot made a start that saw numerous records tumble and did not look back after that, guiding Liverpool all the way to a record-equalling 20th top-flight title in a dream debut season.

In doing so, Slot became just the fifth manager to win the Premier League in their first season, after Jose Mourinho (2004/05, Chelsea), Carlo Ancelotti (2009/10, Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (2013/14, Man City) and Antonio Conte (2016/17, Chelsea).

Best partnership - Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa (Brentford)

Barely a week went by without at least one of Bryan Mbeumo or Yoane Wissa getting on the scoresheet for Brentford, as they racked up 39 Premier League goals between them.

They scored in the same game on eight occasions, the most by a pair of team-mates in the same season since 2021/22.

Only Salah and Liverpool’s Luis Diaz (42) scored more combined goals than Mbeumo and Wissa. However, the 20/19 split of goals for Mbeumo and Wissa, compared to 29/13 for Salah and Diaz, shows the Brentford duo had a far more equal partnership. Their chemistry on and off the pitch proved they are a genuine double act.

Duos to have both scored in 8+ games in a PL season

Best managerial impact - Vitor Pereira (Wolves)

Wolves finished 16th and sealed their survival comfortably in the end, thanks to the remarkable transformation job overseen by Vitor Pereira.

They were second-bottom when he was appointed in December but Pereira inspired an upturn in form. This included leading Wolves to their longest run of consecutive top-flight wins - six - since 1970; they'd won only two of the 16 matches before his appointment.

Record of Wolves’ two managers in 24/25

Wolves improved in numerous ways under the popular, pint-loving Pereira, including upping their points-per-game tally by nearly one whole point, almost halving their number of goals conceded per game, and dramatically increasing their clean-sheets percentage.

Best celebration - Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal v Man City) 

By breaking through and establishing himself at Arsenal this season, while earning England recognition, Myles Lewis-Skelly has proved he is no pushover.

The teenage left-back is not just here to make up the numbers but to make a name for himself. Especially in Arsenal's 5-1 home win against Man City. 

After Erling Haaland asked him who he was in a flashpoint following the youngster's debut, in the first meeting between Man City and Arsenal earlier in the season, Lewis-Skelly responded in the return fixture by scoring his first senior goal and then replicating the Norwegian striker’s mediation celebration, in one of this season’s most iconic moments.

Another memorable celebration came when Liverpool sealed the title against Spurs and Salah celebrated his goal in the 5-1 win by taking a selfie in front of the Kop.

Fairytale moment - James Tarkowski (Everton v Liverpool) 

As the season wore on and the last-ever men's match at Goodison Park drew nearer, there was increasing emotion and significance around every game at Everton’s famous old home. 

The final men’s Merseyside derby in February was one such occasion and Everton ensured the iconic fixture had an unforgettable send-off. 

With Everton trailing 2-1 to title-chasing Liverpool in stoppage time, defender James Tarkowski crashed in a 98th-minute volley to lift the roof off Goodison Park and earn Everton a draw that, in the circumstances, may have felt, to many, as satisfying as a win.

Best quote - Oliver Glasner (Man City v Crystal Palace) 

With a smirk on his face but a calm seriousness after Crystal Palace’s 5-2 defeat at Manchester City in April, Oliver Glasner said: "I said to Pep [Guardiola], if we meet again you can’t play in this system because we will solve it."

Palace’s manager was true to his word when, just a month later, he masterminded a shock 1-0 FA Cup final win over Man City to lead the south-London club to the first major trophy in their history.

For the boldness of his prediction and then overseeing Palace’s historic, against-the-odds success, Glasner just edges this award, though there was strong competition.

Postecoglou stated at the start of the season "I always win things in my second season" and then backed up his words by steering Spurs to UEFA Europa League glory, the club's first trophy in 17 years. 

After Haaland began the campaign with seven goals in three games, Guardiola said: "He’s unstoppable, there’s no central defender, not even with a gun, to stop him."

An honourable mention for David Moyes too, for having a laugh at himself after hearing renditions of a chant from his first Everton reign ring out around Goodison Park following his emotional return this season. 

"It was fabulous, the fans singing that song about me having red hair. It’s now grey hair. I don’t know if that [song] works," Moyes laughed.