‘Really tough…’ – Jamie Carragher assesses Liverpool’s top four hopes after Man Utd rout as defining test highlighted
Jamie Carragher believes that Liverpool stand ‘a great chance’ of finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season.
Sunday’s 7-0 thumping of Manchester United leaves the Reds with 13 points from the last 15 available and has taken them to within three points of fourth-placed Tottenham, with a game in hand and a better goal difference than Spurs.
It’s a remarkable improvement on where Jurgen Klopp’s side were only a month ago, having slumped to 10th in the table with a gap of 11 points to the top four following the 3-0 defeat at Wolves (BBC Sport).
Carragher has claimed that a nine-day period at the beginning of April will prove pivotal in his former club’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League via domestic placing.
He told Sky Sports: “I still can’t believe the games Liverpool have lost, the performances they’ve put in, they’ve still got a great chance of making the top four.
“There’s still a long way to go but Liverpool at Bournemouth next week is a game you expect them to win. After that they’ve got a really tough week. City, Chelsea, Arsenal determines whether Liverpool make the top four or not.”
Klopp’s team have the chance to temporarily take fourth place next Saturday if they win at the Vitality Stadium, as we play earlier in the day than Tottenham.
Should the Reds win on the south coast and Spurs lose their next two league games, the Merseysiders will go into April in the top four, but as Carragher mentioned, then comes the real acid test of our credentials.
Liverpool may have taken four points from their three games against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal so far this season, but two of those fixtures next month are away, and the Reds have only won three times on the road in the current top-flight campaign (Transfermarkt).
Nor does it help that we’ve to play the two remaining title contenders in such a short space of time.
We’ve seen how quickly our fortunes can swing in the space of a month, so that triple header at the start of April could indeed be make-or-break when it comes to our chances of securing a Champions League place for 2023/24.
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