Jurgen Klopp: Four Liverpool wins 'WILL be enough' for top-four

Jurgen Klopp believes four wins ‘WILL be enough’ for Liverpool to qualify for the Champions League with Reds aiming for perfect run-in to sneak into top four

  • Liverpool beat Southampton to go five points behind fourth with a game in hand
  • Jurgen Klopp’s side are sixth behind Leicester and West Ham in the top-four race
  • The Reds have Man United, Burnley, West Brom and Crystal Palace to play
  • Klopp believes a 100 per cent record will be enough for them to jump into fourth

Jurgen Klopp claims Liverpool will qualify for next season’s Champions League if they win all of their four remaining matches, after the Reds beat Southampton 2-0. 

Liverpool beat the Saints thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara to move up to sixth place in the league – five points behind fourth-placed Leicester City with a game in hand. 

Klopp, whose side face Burnley, West Brom and Crystal Palace after a rearranged trip to Manchester United on Thursday, remains confident that four wins from four will be enough – and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will suffer from tiredness amidst a busy week.

Jurgen Klopp believes four wins out of four will be enough for Liverpool to reach the top four

The Reds beat Southampton 2-0 thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara (right)

United host Liverpool on Thursday night just 48 hours after playing Leicester at Old Trafford and just four days after their trip to Aston Villa this Sunday. 

When asked if 12 points is enough to secure top-four, Klopp told Sky Sports on Saturday night: ‘Yeah if we do that I think it’ll be enough but that’s a big if. 

‘We play Man United on Thursday and I know they play Tuesday and Sunday, and they have a big schedule. But if you look at the squad they have, they can make changes, there’s no doubt about that. 

‘But it’s of course not good for them to play three games in a week, it’s absolutely crazy, I really don’t understand that but that’s how it is.

Klopp’s side face Manchester United on Thursday with the Red Devils in a very busy schedule

‘The other games, we’ll see if West Brom is still fighting for the league, Burnley maybe as well, who knows? All these teams have their targets and if they’ve reached their targets already then they can play completely without pressure and that’s not nice as well.

‘So we will have pressure, as long as we win, because then we can reach something. If not, then not.’

Liverpool will have to win all of their remaining matches and hope Leicester and West Ham slip up at least once in their fixtures between now and the final day on May 23. 

Klopp’s side need to win all their four matches and hope West Ham and Leicester both slip up

Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes, who lost 4-2 to Newcastle on Friday night, have trips to Manchester United and Chelsea to come, followed by the visit on Tottenham on the last weekend of the season.

West Ham, on the other hand, have an easier run-in on paper with Everton visiting the London Stadium on Sunday and Brighton, West Brom and Southampton their other opponents left to play.

Liverpool boosted their chances by beating Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton on Saturday, with the Reds extending their unbeaten Premier League run to six matches. 

Mane’s headed home Mohamed Salah’s cross in the first-half before Thiago wrapped up the points with his first Liverpool goal amid a difficult debut season in England.

Klopp (right) paid tribute to Alisson Becker (left) for making a crucial save with the score at 0-0

The Reds were perhaps indebted to goalkeeper Alisson Becker for the three points, who made a crucial save from Che Adams just before Mane’s opener – a moment in the match which Klopp recognised. 

Speaking about the performance in general, Klopp added: ‘It was good, it was tough, Southampton games are. We knew that before and we had to work hard and we did that. 

‘We scored a really nice goal, we could have scored before. Yes they had their moments in counter-attacking situations moments but Ali with a really good save in first half. That kept us in the game and in winning ways.’




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