Knowing full well that victory over both West Ham United and Middlesbrough on the final day of the season will see Liverpool secure a spot in next season’s Champions League, everyone at the club knows it’s crunch time and that the kind of mistakes they’ve made against lower level clubs throughout the campaign can’t be repeated if they want to get back to the bright lights of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
“We have two finals really. If we win, we will qualify for the Champions League for next year,” said Liverpool midfielder Lucas. “For me, it was a difficult start (to the season). But I just kept going, kept training and kept fit. I knew the opportunity would come at some point in the season – it’s normal, injuries happen and the manager needs different kinds of players,” explained the Brazilian. “I’m just trying to help as much as I can and these next two games will be very important for the club’s future. We hope we can win these two games.”
After downing Manchester United at the weekend and rolling over Southampton midweek, Arsenal — who hold a match in hand over Liverpool — are climbing up the table and pushing hard to pip either the Reds or Manchester City to a spot in the top four. After starting the season brightly and running neck and neck with Premier League pacesetters Chelsea until the new year, the Anfield outfit haven’t exactly made life easy on themselves. Stumbling against the likes of Swansea City, Sunderland and Hull City, Liverpool go into the final stretch with their fate in their hands, but with the knowledge that they should already be checking flights to the biggest football cities on the continent.
“The other teams play also. It’s not only us to play difficult football games, all of us have to do it,” said Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, speaking at the club’s 2017 Players’ Awards. “It’s all good so far. 70 points is a wonderful number. It’s not what we want to have at the end of the season, but at the moment we have it,” continued the German, obviously disappointed to have dropped out of the title race, but happy to still be on course for a return to the Champions League. “Now we can go for the next three. West Ham will not be easy, but it’s exactly like this for all the rest also.”
