The 11 moments that put Liverpool back on their perch - and knocked Man Utd off theirs

Having reached two Champions League finals in three years, Liverpool entered a period of huge instability after the takeover by US tycoons George Gillet and Tom Hicks, who reneged on promises to turbo-charge Rafa Benitez's squad with new signings and instead dragged the club to the brink of administration.

Fenway Sports Group, led by Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry, rode to the rescue, purchasing the club for £300 million ($382m) in October 2010. And they oversaw a stunning transformation of Liverpool's fortunes, delivering the two most important trophies in club football within a decade.

The Americans have made some mistakes, chiefly joining the doomed European Super League, but they have generally got their decisions spot on, above all with recruitment.

Luis Suarez might not have been to everyone's taste, but his win-at-all-costs mentality turned Liverpool from an aspiring side into a top team when he signed from Ajax for just £23m ($29m). He was the club's best striker since Fernando Torres, and his 31 goals in the 2013-14 season took the Reds to the brink of the title before Steven Gerrard's untimely slip against Chelsea handed the momentum back to Manchester City.

Suarez got a frosty reception from Liverpool fans when he returned to Anfield with Barcelona and then Atletico Madrid, but he unquestionably dragged the club back in the right direction, as well as allowing them to pocket £75m ($95m), more than trebling their return on their investment.

Michael Edwards was an obscure figure when he joined Liverpool in 2011 as an analyst, but he would go on to shape Liverpool's glorious future like few others. Edwards worked his way up to become director of technical performance, then technical director, before being appointed Liverpool’s first-ever sporting director in 2016 and becoming one of the most influential figures during the club's most successful period in the 21st century.

Edewards was the hidden genius who, in tandem with director of research Ian Graham, helped build one of the world’s greatest football teams. He pulled off major transfer coups including signing Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Gini Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and Fabinho. He left Liverpool in 2022, but was so well-liked and admired that he has been brought back in an even bigger role, being named as the club's CEO of football.

Liverpool landing Philippe Coutinho for just £8.5m ($10.8m) and selling him to Barcelona for £142m ($181m) just might be the greatest piece of transfer business in football history. Coutinho added real quality to Brendan Rodgers' side, and in half a season scored three times and set up seven goals. He was even better the following campaign, helping Liverpool go agonisingly close to the title after forming a fine understanding with fellow South American Suarez.

Coutinho outlasted Suarez and Rodgers and became a crucial part of Jurgen Klopp's initial team, contributing to 62 goals under the German and briefly forming a mouth-watering attack known as the 'Fab Four' alongside Salah, Mane and Firmino. But Liverpool reacted calmly when Barcelona came calling and invested their huge windfall in signing Van Dijk and Alisson, laying the foundations for their future Premier League and Champions League successes.

Rodgers' era in charge of Liverpool may have ended badly, a few months after a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Stoke City, but whisper it quietly: Rodgers played a huge role in the club's resurgence. Liverpool made a bold choice by snubbing bigger names to hire Rodgers from Swansea City and he soon translated the eye-catching football he had overseen in South Wales to the red half of Merseyside.

Helped by Suarez and Coutinho, as well as a Gerrard on a mission, Liverpool made their strongest bid yet to win the Premier League title, only missing out to City on the last day of the season. Although the journey ultimately ended in tears, their thrilling title charge put Liverpool back on the map and made everyone see what was possible.

But of course, Rodgers' achievements were soon blown out of the water when Klopp was hired as his successor. Liverpool had been keen to secure the German's services after watching him take Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final and successive Bundesliga titles, and he accepted their offer after holding a secret meeting in New York, cutting short his sabbatical.

Klopp led Liverpool to two finals in his first season, and although they lost both, many more were to follow. His biggest achievement was to win their first league title in 30 years, but his greatest legacy will be the bond he has created with supporters and the city.

In the summer of 2017, Liverpool and United both chose to sign forwards who had been let go by Jose Mourinho earlier in their careers. The Red Devils bought Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £75m ($95m) while Liverpool made a bet on Salah, who had rebooted his career with Roma, snapping him up for only £37m ($47m). Needless to say, Liverpool made the wiser choice.

In less than seven seasons, Salah has hit 206 goals and set up a further 90, entering in the club's top five scorers of all time while overtaking Gerrard as their top scorer in the Premier League. He has also enraptured fans with some of the greatest goals Anfield has ever seen, while firing Liverpool to eight trophies. Lukaku, meanwhile, left United after two miserable, trophy-less seasons.

Liverpool had been courting Van Dijk for a long time, and months after a controversial meeting between the defender and Klopp in a Blackpool hotel, they got a deal done with Southampton in January 2018, paying £75m ($95m) for the Dutchman, a world-record fee for a defender. The transfer led to Klopp being accused of hypocrisy after decrying the £89m ($113m) fee United had paid for Paul Pogba 18 months earlier. However, Van Dijk proved to be worth every penny, quite unlike Pogba.

The towering centre-back was the missing piece of Klopp's jigsaw and stabilised Liverpool's defence, helping them reach the successive Champions League finals and win a first league title in 30 years. When the Dutchman suffered a serious knee injury early in the following campaign, Liverpool's title defence effectively collapsed without him.

Van Dijk is now back to his best, as he scored the only goal in the Carabao Cup final against Chesea and won a compelling battle with Erling Haaland in Sunday's showdown with Manchester City. He has certainly turned out far better than United's most expensive defender, Harry Maguire.

Liverpool's legend was built on their four European Cup triumphs during the 1980s, and the Miracle of Istanbul in 2005 gave them a modern triumph to savour as well. They had been starved of European success for more than a decade when Klopp arrived, but the German soon made them a formidable force on the continent, taking them to the 2018 Champions League final.

They were beaten in difficult circumstances by a more streetwise Real Madrid, but they came back stronger, knocking out Bayern Munich and then Barcelona, producing one of the most incredible second-leg turnarounds of all-time by thrashing Lionel Messi and Co. 4-0 at Anfield. Liverpool then saw off Tottenham in Madrid to win their sixth European Cup, leading Klopp to burst into song during a post-match interview.

Liverpool made the final again in 2022, although their defeat to Madrid was overshadowed by the shameful scenes outside the Stade de France. Klopp could yet have a dream swansong by leading the team to Europa League glory in Dublin this season, too.

United, meanwhile, have had a series of continental disappointments since winning the Europa League in 2017, and endured a humiliating exit from the Champions League this season, finishing bottom of a fairly straightforward group.

Liverpool's transformation under Klopp could not be seen as complete until they finally won a league title, something no coach had done since Kenny Dalglish in 1990. Roy Evans, Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers had all come close, as had Klopp, whose side were beaten by City by just one point in 2019.

Missing out on that title by such fine margins could have broken any team, but Liverpool showed their mental resilience by producing the most astonishing campaign, clinching the title with seven games to spare, a Premier League record, and with a 23-point lead, the biggest ever in English top-flight history.

The title win secured Klopp's immortality and also saw Liverpool move within one title of equalling United's tally of 20 to well and truly climb back on their perch.

Klopp has won every prize in club football in England and Germany, yet he described last month's Carabao Cup triumph over Chelsea as "easily the most special trophy I have ever won". And that is because that extra-time triumph at Wembley was built by a generation of largely unknown youngsters from the club's academy who seized their chance amid a litany of injuries to senior players.

And despite all the silverware won and the fact Liverpool have reclaimed their former place at the top of English football, 'Klopp's Kids' might be the manager's greatest legacy. The German had a huge say in the design of the club's new training ground in Kirkby and the development of young players was at the heart of his plans.

Conor Bradley has taken the baton from Trent Alexander-Arnold, another academy graduate, while he has been injured, while Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones have established themselves as first-team regulars. And the future, in the hands of the likes of Bobby Clark, Ben Doak, Jayden Danns, Jarell Quansah and Lewis Koumas, looks very bright indeed.