Liverpool-Klopp wins final game as Liverpool manager, Luton relegation confirmed: Premier League final day:

Rob Edwards paid tribute to “special club” Luton Town after the Hatters’ relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on the final day.

Luton’s brief but eventful stint in the top flight came to an end following a 4-2 defeat by Fulham at Kenilworth Road, with Edwards’ side finishing 18th and six points adrift of 17th-place Nottingham Forest. 

Liverpool sent departing manager Jurgen Klopp on his way with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Wolves as the Anfield faithful finally bade an emotional farewell to their beloved boss after eight and a half years.

Klopp was dressed cap-to-trainers in funereal black for his 491st and final game but, while there were tears, the atmosphere was nothing but celebratory.

The Kop restored some of the old favourites to their songbook, hailing some of the now-departed greats – Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, Divock Origi – of the manager’s reign.

However, fittingly it was two players who represent the longer-term future of Liverpool – Alexis Mac Allister signed last summer in a midfield revamp and 21-year-old centre-back Jarell Quansah – who scored the goals after Nelson Semedo was sent off.

After almost nine years of stability there is uncertainty ahead at almost every turn as the majority of the backroom staff will leave with Klopp and the likes of 30-somethings Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold entering the final year of their contracts.

There is plenty for incoming Feyenoord boss Arne Slot to deal with but he has at least been left with a squad which, but for a two-week blip in April, would probably have been in the final-day title picture instead of providing the support act to Klopp’s Anfield farewell.

Last-day survival was always going to be a big ask for the Hatters, who needed a victory and an ambitious 12-goal swing to stand any chance of usurping Forest.

Luton have gained many new admirers with their tally of 52 goals the second-most by a side during a 20-team Premier League season in which they were relegated – after Blackpool’s 55 in 2010-11.

However, a leaky defence proved to be their undoing as they conceded 85 times – their highest tally in a top-flight campaign.

Nevertheless, Edwards saluted the club’s supporters, and believes his side have a solid foundation to build on next season in their quest for an immediate return from the Championship.

“We’re a special club, we’ve got unique support. We’ve had that all season long,” he told Match of the Day. “Everyone that’s travelled has shown their best. We’ve given our best this year, and ultimately we’ve just come up short.

“If one game could almost tell a season’s story, that would be today – full of endeavour, some really good quality at times as well, but a little bit too fragile.

“We’ve scored a lot of goals this year. We’ve been good to watch, we’ve been involved in loads of great games, but we’ve conceded too many. That balance is something that we’ve got to try to address, and we know where we need to keep improving.

The records he leaves are almost too numerous to mention but, aside from seven major trophies, include Liverpool’s longest unbeaten league run at home – three years and 272 days between 2017 and 2021.

“This is the season we aimed for the moon and ended up in the stars,” Klopp wrote in his programme notes.

“This is a club that is ready to take the journey in a new and exciting direction, not one that is ready for the journey to come to an end.”

But this was very much a celebration of the recent past with the name of the manager, noticeably less animated on the touchline, sung constantly.

The match did not really spring into life until the 28th minute when Semedo was sent off for an over-the-top challenge on Mac Allister after VAR David Coote advised referee Chris Kavanagh to view the pitchside monitor.

Wolves want Premier League clubs to vote this summer on abolishing VAR but they could have had little argument with that one.

“We have changed and evolved so much. There is a lot of good stuff we can take to attack the Championship next season. We work hard, we give absolutely everything. We just have to be us, go and be Luton.”