Liverpool has won the Champions League/European Cup more times than any other club except for Real Madrid and Milan.
However, there has been a prevailing sentiment that Jürgen Klopp’s team may not even qualify for next season’s competition. On Saturday, the Reds barely beat Nottingham Forest by a goal from Mohamed Salah. But how likely is it that they will be in Europe’s top club competition in 2023-24?
Looking at the Premier League table, it seems that Liverpool has a lot of ground to make up to reach the top four.
The team is currently in seventh place, seven points behind Manchester United, who are in fourth place with two games in hand. Excluding Arsenal and Manchester City, Liverpool’s closest competitors for the Champions League spots are Aston Villa, who are in sixth place with a one-point advantage and have played one game more than the Merseyside team.
Permutations
In short, Liverpool has a lot of work to do and many clubs to overtake. Is there any good news?
Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures don’t appear to be too challenging. In addition to winning their last two games, Klopp’s team has three away fixtures remaining against teams struggling at the bottom of the table (West Ham, Leicester City, and Southampton).
After their trip to the London Stadium, they have three consecutive home games, which should help them maintain their recent momentum.
Moreover, two of Liverpool’s four remaining home games are against direct rivals for a top-four spot. Tottenham Hotspur, who are currently in fifth place with a point advantage and more games played, will visit Anfield on April 30. Aston Villa will be in town on May 20, the second-to-last weekend of the season. These are two good opportunities for Liverpool to boost their Champions League hopes while simultaneously hurting their competitors’.
Several other Champions League contenders will face off against each other in the remaining weeks of the campaign.
Surprise package Brighton, who are four points behind Liverpool but have two games in hand, will have to play against title contenders Arsenal and City. They also have to contend against Manchester United (who are 11 points ahead and likely safe), Villa, and Newcastle.
Newcastle will also play against Tottenham and Brighton, while Villa vs. Spurs, United vs. Villa, and Spurs vs. United are all upcoming fixtures. This means that many of Liverpool’s closest rivals in the standings will take points off each other in the coming weeks.
So, is there still a chance for Klopp’s men? They may not be the favorites to make the top four, but we’ve seen them put together a superb late-season run to qualify for the Champions League in 2020-21 when it looked like they were out of contention. They’ve done it before, it remains to be seen if they can do it again.
