Liverpool may have hung on to their place in the top four after some favorable results in the Premier League backed up their comfortable win over cross-town rivals Everton on Saturday, but the Reds have just under ten matches left to play and with the table as tight as ever a return to Europe’s elite club competition is far from assured.
“It has not been secured, but it is our target to play in the Champions League,” explained Liverpool midfielder Emre Can. “December, January and February was not our best football but now we are back, we did it in the last couple of games,” continued the German, looking ahead to the meeting with AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday. “It was very important to win that game. There are still eight games to go and we have to keep it up.”
They may have what looks to be a relatively simple run in to the close of the campaign, but the Reds have consistently struggled against sides outside the top half of the table throughout the season — a trend they’ll be hoping is behind them when the Cherries visit Anfield tomorrow. Racing to an early lead through Sadio Mane and Divock Origi, Liverpool looked on course for a routine victory when they visited Dean Court at the begining of December, but Eddie Howe’s side produced one for the ages as they twice came from behind to topple the the Reds for the first in their history, bagging three-goals in the last 15-minutes to run out 4-3 winners.
“We will fight for everything,” stressed Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, knowing full well that beating the likes of Arsenal and Everton of the past couple of weeks won’t mean anything if they can’t grab points against Bournemouth. “I thought the players showed again that they are ready to fight for everything,” continued the Reds manager, one unwavering eye on Champions League qualification. “Hopefully we can stay in this optimistic mood and can get there.”
